British debut novelist Rosie Alison has already made it onto this year's longlist for the Romantic Novel of the Year award; and now The Very Thought of You, her story of an eight-year-old evacuee sent to a Yorkshire estate during the second world war, has been longlisted for the Orange prize. Published by small independent press Alma Books, the novel sees the child drawn into the unravelling relationship of the estate's owners, childless couple Thomas and Elizabeth Ashton Photograph: Alma Books

The second of seven debut novels on this year's longlist, New Zealander Eleanor Catton's The Rehearsal follows the consequences of a high-school sex scandal, which is made into a play by the local collegeRead a review of The RehearsalPhotograph: Granta

Former Orange longlistee Clare Clark is in the running again with her third novel, Savage Lands. Set in the swamps of Louisiana in 1704, the book follows the story of Elisabeth Savaret, sent out from Paris to marry a man she has never met but with whom she falls passionately in loveRead a review of Savage LandsPhotograph: Harvill Secker

The Times's children's literature critic, Amanda Craig, makes the line-up for this year's Orange prize with her sixth novel, Hearts and Minds. Set amid London's immigrant population, from an illegal mini-cab driver from Zimbabwe to an exiled South African supply teacher and a 15-year-old girl trafficked into sexual slavery, the book traces how their lives are connected when a girl's body is found in Hampstead pondsRead a review of Hearts and MindsPhotograph: Little Brown

Pakistan-born Roopa Farooki, shortlisted for the Orange prize for new writers for her first novel, Bitter Sweets, is up for the main award for The Way Things Look to Me, the story of three siblings struggling to find their way after the death of their mother. Asif, 23, is forced to stay at home to look after his difficult youngest sister Yasmin, while Lila escapes to drift between jobs and menPhotograph: Pan Books

Another former Orange longlisted author, Rebecca Gowers, makes the line-up this year with The Twisted Heart, about a work-obsessed literature student who meets a mysterious man at a dance classRead a review of The Twisted HeartPhotograph: Canongate

She's been shortlisted for the Man Booker prize, and now MJ Hyland is in with a chance at the Orange prize with her third novel, This is How, which follows the ever-darkening story of a man trying to build a new life after his fiancée ends their engagementRead a review of This Is HowPhotograph: Canongate

Sadie Jones burst onto the literary scene with her debut, the Costa first novel award-winning The Outcast. Her second novel, Small Wars, sees soldier's wife Clara joining her husband on Cyprus as the islanders battle for union with Greece, and the British defend the colonyRead a review of Small WarsPhotograph: Chatto & Windus

US author Barbara Kingsolver is longlisted for The Lacuna, her first novel in nine years. Told through the diaries and letters of Harrison Shepherd, born in the US but raised in Mexico, the novel sees Shepherd meet the muralist Diego Rivera, his wife Frida Kahlo and their guest, Leon Trotsky, going on to become a bestselling author in the US before being investigated as a subversive Read a review of The LacunaPhotograph: Faber and Faber

Moroccan author Laila Lalami, another debut novelist, makes the Orange longlist for Secret Son, about a boy raised in a one-room house in the alleys of Casablanca who is taken in, aged 19, by his wealthy businessman fatherPhotograph: Viking

Andrea Levy was catapulted to bestsellerdom with her fourth novel, Small Island, which won a host of prizes including the Orange. Her fifth, The Long Song, tells the story of slave girl July, who works on a sugar plantation in the 19th century Read a review of The Long SongPhotograph: Headline Review

Screenwriter-turned-novelist Attica Locke is longlisted for Black Water Rising, about a lawyer who saves a woman from drowning on the Houston bayou only to be ensnared in a murder investigation which forces him to confront his radical past. The book is published by small press Serpent's Tail, which also published Lionel Shriver's Orange prize-winning We Need to Talk About KevinRead a review of Black Water RisingPhotograph: Serpent's Tail

British author Maria McCann makes the Orange running with The Wilding, set in the 17th century a generation after the English civil war. After cider-maker Jonathan Dymond's uncle dies, he is led to family secrets which have lain hidden since the war Photograph: Faber and Faber

Hilary Mantel's Man Booker prize-winning Wolf Hall, set in the court of Henry VIII and tracing the rise of Thomas Cromwell, also makes the Orange longlist Read a review of Wolf HallPhotograph: Fourth Estate

Somalia-born British writer Nadifa Mohamed, another debut novelist, is longlisted for the 1935-set Black Mamba Boy, about a boy who embarks on an epic journey to find his father, through war-torn Eritrea, Sudan, Egypt and Palestine to BritainRead a review of Black Mamba BoyPhotograph: HarperCollins

American short story writer and novelist Lorrie Moore was chosen by the judges for her third novel, A Gate at the Stairs, which sees a college student take on the job of nanny to a wealthy couple looking to adopt, only to find herself drawn ever more deeply into the household's complicated lifeRead a review of A Gate at the StairsPhotograph: Faber and Faber

Spanish-born, British-educated Monique Roffey is longlisted for The White Woman on the Green Bicycle, her second novel and the story of a couple who arrive in Trinidad from England, where the wife, Sabine, becomes fixated on the leader of the country's new national party, Eric WilliamsPhotograph: Simon and Schuster

Amy Sackville makes the Orange prize running for her debut, The Still Point. Published by small press Portobello Books, it tells the stories of Arctic explorer Edward Mackley's widow, who waits for decades for his return from the north pole, and of their great-great-niece Julia, who makes a discovery about her ancestors while struggling with her own marriageRead a review of The Still PointPhotograph: Portobello Books

The seventh and final debut novel on this year's Orange longlist, US writer Kathryn Stockett's The Help is set in 1962 Mississippi, telling the intertwining stories of a black maid, Aibileen, raising her 17th white child, and the 22-year-old Skeeter, who returns home seeking comfort from Constantine, the maid who raised her, only to discover she has goneRead a review of The HelpPhotograph: Fig Tree

Twice shortlisted for the Man Booker and twice shortlisted for the Orange prize, Sarah Waters is longlisted this year for her ghost story The Little Stranger, set in a crumbling mansion in post-war WarwickshireRead a review of The Little StrangerPhotograph: Virago