The novel has been nominated in the Translated Literature category along with nine other books by international authors.
The other titles on the longlist were originally written in Arabic, Danish, French, German, Japanese, Norwegian, Persian, and Spanish.
The books were chosen from a total of 146 entries submitted by publishers. The finalists will be announced on October 4, and the awards ceremony will be held on November 16.
Founded in 1936, the US National Book Awards are presented annually in five categories: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry, Translated Literature, and Young People’s Literature.
Tokarczuk’s The Books of Jacob tells the story of Jacob Frank, a 18th-century historical figure whose charisma led many to believe he was the Messiah. He was a young Jew who travelled through the Hapsburg and Ottoman empires, attracting and repelling crowds and authorities in equal measure.
The Books of Jacob is Tokarczuk’s first novel to appear in English since she won the 2018 Nobel Prize in Literature for “a narrative imagination that with encyclopaedic passion represents the crossing of boundaries as a form of life.”
The book has been translated from the Polish by Jennifer Croft, whose credits include the 2018 Booker International Prize for her translation of Tokarczuk's earlier novel Flights.
Earlier this month, The Books of Jacob was included on the shortlist for another major US literary award, the Kirkus Prize for Fiction.
(mk/gs)