Hilary Mantel Favorite to Take Booker Novel Prize

Judges are choosing the winner of Britain's most prestigious literary trophy from a shortlist that includes novels set in the court of King Henry VIII and the opium dens of Mumbai.

Hilary Mantel is favored to win the 50,000 pound ($82,000) Booker Prize with "Bring Up the Bodies," a tale of Tudor treachery centered on the king's right-hand man, Thomas Cromwell. It is a sequel to "Wolf Hall," for which Mantel won in 2009.

India's Jeet Thayil is nominated for "Narcopolis," set among 1970s heroin addicts, and Britain's Will Self for the century-spanning stream of consciousness "Umbrella."

The other finalists are Britain's Alison Moore for "The Lighthouse," Malaysia's Tan Twan Eng for "The Garden of Evening Mists" and Britain's Deborah Levy for "Swimming Home."

The winner is announced later Tuesday.