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
São Paulo Prize for Literature inaugural year of the São Paulo Prize for Literature reviewed 146 novels submitted by 55 publishers and 19 independent authors. The initial jury selected five finalists for each category, after which the final jury selected one winner from each category. The awards ceremony took place on 1 December 2008, and the presenter was the MTV VJ Cazé Peçanha. All entries were first published in Brazil in 2007. Shortlist for Best Book of the Year Shortlist for Best Book of the Year - Debut Author Prize Administrators The 2009 São Paulo Prize for Literature received 217 novels submissions by 75 publishers