Every month, Publishing Trends runs fiction international bestseller lists from four territories–France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. This month, our four regular territories are joined by two more: Mexico and Holland. Those books that have been published in English are listed with their official English-language title. All others are translated as literally as possible from the…Continue Reading
My Generation Down and Out in Denmark, Angot Gasps in France, And Sweden’s Crime Duo Hits 30 Junkies, pushers, ‘narco-tarts’, and their degenerate demi-monde come crackling to life in Denmark, as Jakob Ejersbo’s novel Nordkraft (the title translates roughly as “Northern Power”) barrels up the list with its “oddly encouraging” tale of a generation searching…Continue Reading
The Waiting Game Lovelorn Levy in France, Qashu’s Israeli Arabs, And Poland’s Own Bridget Jones French architect-cum-literary-phenom Marc Levy hits the charts in both France and Italy with his second novel, Will You Be There?, a “treat of simplicity and emotion” that delves into the rendez-vous manqués between lovelorn Americans Philip and Susan, after the…Continue Reading
The Darnedest Things Swedish Kid-Savants, Greece’s Sippable Fiction, And Pilch Toasts All of Holland A wave of mourning sweeps over Sweden this month with the passing of Astrid Lindgren, mother of Pippi Longstocking, though her spirit lives on in the mischievous Swedish bestseller of the moment, Old Ladies Don’t Lay Eggs. This zinger of a…Continue Reading
Parisian Pandemonium Vargas Plagues Paris, Orsenna’s French Lessons, And Brouwers Skewers Dutch Boomers The specter of bubonic plague coming down the mail chute rattles all of Paris in an uncannily topical work by the French archaeologist and crime writer Fred Vargas. In the author’s latest novel, Leave Quickly and Return Late (which, incidentally, was written…Continue Reading
Spiritus Mundiw Chimoni’s French Miracle, Lama Love in Germany, and Italy’s Sci-Fi Satire Anyone out there remember Mr. God This Is Anna, a UK bestseller for Holt in 1975 that’s been in print at Ballantine since 1976? Well, it’s back to the future in France, where a similar title has just been published: Annaëlle Chimoni’s…Continue Reading
