What Was Lost Was Lost" was the winner in the first novel category of the Costa Book Awards. O'Flynn received a £5,000 prize. It was short-listed for the overall Costa Book of the Year Award. The Costa Book Awards' judging panel, chaired by Joanna Trollope, praised the novel for "blending humour and pathos in a cleverly constructed and absorbing mystery." They described the novel as inventive, compelling, and poignant. "What Was Lost" was long-listed for the 2007 Man Booker Prize and the Orange Prize for Fiction. It was short-listed for the Guardian First Book Award. It won the Jelf Group First Novel Award
Wellcome Book Prize science book for the general reader. Applicants would submit a book outline and sample chapter, winners would then be obligated to write and publish the book. It appears the only winner was Michael J. Morgan for "" (2001), before the prize (for science writing) was discontinued. From 2009 to 2012 it was called the Wellcome Trust Book Prize. In 2013 there was no award however there were changes to the prize including an increase in prize money from £25,000 to £30,000 and a new timetable of key dates: shortlist in February and winner in April. Wellcome Book Prize Wellcome Book