Books that showed strong on English language bestseller lists in recent months populated the top spots on foreign charts in November. Stephen King’s Doctor Sleep, which has been on Publishers Weekly’s bestseller list since its September release, debuted at #2 on the fiction lists in both Spain and France.
The Cuckoo’s Calling took the U.S. by storm this summer when it was revealed that Robert Galbraith, the author, is a pseudonym of J.K. Rowling, and the novel landed at #3 on the German fiction list last month. Jonas Jonasson’s The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden (which was originally published in Swedish and will be published stateside by Ecco in April) ousted Germany’s previous #1 novel, Khaled Hosseini’s And the Mountains Echoed, bumping the latter down to #2.
The leading fiction titles in Spain, other than King’s Sleep, were also new to the list, and both were by Spanish authors. Clara Sanchez’s Heaven Is Back, described by the publisher as a “subtle, gripping mystery about the price of success,” took the top spot. Megan Maxwell’s Surprise Me, the fourth erotic novel in her Ask Me Anything series, hit #3.
Goodbye Up There by Pierre Lemaitre led the pack on France’s fiction list. The novel follows two men who realize that France “has no use for them” after World War I, and “decide to exact vengeance on their homeland and contrive an immoral scam that will throw the whole country into turmoil,” according to the publisher. King trails Lemaitre at #2, and The Blood of Betrayal, Hervé Jourdain’s novel about a serial killer, made its first appearance on the list at #3.
International Bestsellers
Germany
| Fiction | Nonfiction | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Die Analphabetin die rechnen konnte The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden Jonas Jonasson Carl´s Books | Anziehungskraft Attraction Guido M. Kretschmer Edel Books |
| 2 | Traumsammler And the Mountains Echoed Khaled Hosseini S. Fischer | Die Schlafwandler The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 Christopher Clark DVA |
| 3 | Der Ruf des Kuckucks The Cuckoo’s Calling Robert Galbraith Blanvalet | Da geht noch was It’s Never Too Late: Turning the bend at 65 Christine Westermann Kiepenheuer & Witsch |
Spain
| Fiction | Nonfiction | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | El cielo ha vuelto Heaven Is Back Clara Sánchez Planeta | La vida es un regalo Life Is a Gift María de Villota Plataforma |
| 2 | Doctor sueño Doctor Sleep Stephen King Plaza & Janes | Puedo prometer y prometo I Can Promise and Promise Fernando Ónega Plaza & Janés |
| 3 | Sorpréndeme Surprise Me Megan Maxwell Planeta | Todo lo que era sólido All That Was Solid Antonio Muñoz Molina Seix Barral |
France
| Fiction | Nonfiction | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Au revoir là-haut Goodbye Up There Pierre Lemaitre Albin Michel | Hexagone. sur les routes de
l’histoire de France Hexagon: On the Road of French History Lorànt Deutsch Michel Lafon |
| 2 | Docteur sleep Doctor Sleep Stephen King Albin Michel | On a tiré sur le Président We Shot the President Philippe Labro Gallimard |
| 3 | Le sang de la trahison The Blood of Betrayal Hervé Jourdain Fayard | Voyages en absurdie Travelling Absurdly Stéphane de Groodt and Christophe Debacq Plon |
