A journalist from the Gazette & Herald in Wiltshire has won this year’s Booktrust Teenage Prize with her debut children’s novel, Century.

Sarah Singleton, a reporter in the paper’s Chippenham office, beat well-known authors such as Julie Burchill to the prize, which recognises the best contemporary fiction aimed at 13-16 year olds.

Sarah, (39, pictured), collected a trophy and a cheque for £1,500.

She said: “I’m still finding it hard to believe I’ve won.

“I had my own idea about who would win – I thought Meg Rosoff would win as it’s such a high-profile book and I’ve read it and adored it.

“I’m stunned.”

Century, which hit bookshelves in March, is a magical gothic tale about a strange family who live in a mansion.

Sisters Mercy and Charity live every day the same until one day Mercy is woken to find a snowdrop on her pillow: a first sign of spring – and a nod towards a new future.

A chance meeting with the mysterious Claudius provokes Mercy to question everything she has ever known and trusted, not least the truth behind her mother’s death.

Geraldine Brennan, books editor for The Times Educational Supplement and chair of the judges, said: “Century is a perfectly-formed, highly visual and intriguing novel in the gothic tradition, with the timeless feel of Frankenstein or Dracula.

“It keeps the reader guessing as it moves through layers of time and rewards a careful reader with its many hints and clues, yet the language is accessible and the story draws the reader in.

“The judges believe that this excellent first novel deserves wide attention and we would all love to read more books by this author.”

The other shortlisted books were Sugar Rush by Julie Burchill, Siberia by Ann Halam, Come Clean by Terri Paddock, The Whisper by Bali Rai, How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff and The Unrivalled Spangles by Karen Wallace.