A handful of new titles topped the bestseller lists in the international markets at the start of 2014. In France, 21-year-old Edouard Louis’s debut novel, Finishing Off Eddy Bellegueule, came in at #1. The book follows Eddy, a boy from a working-class family in a small French town who suffers abuse at the hands of his alcoholic mother, and is later persecuted because of his homosexuality. The book has been hailed by some as this “season’s literary sensation.” Repair the Living by Maylis de Kerangal was in the #2 spot on the French fiction list, and U.S. bestseller The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt, landed at #3; both titles were new to the list this month.
In Germany, Jonas Jonasson’s The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden was once again the top-selling fiction title. Ecco is set to publish the book in the U.S. in April. Haruki Murakami’s hotly anticipated new novel, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, debuted at #2 on the German fiction list (Knopf will publish the novel in the U.S. August 12). In third place was former IT consultant Graeme Simsion’s The Rosie Project. Originally published in Australia, the novel, which chronicles one man’s journey to find the perfect mate through logic and equations, was published by Simon & Schuster in the U.S. in October, and has been sold into more than 30 territories. Sony has optioned film rights.
Isabel Allende’s Ripper debuted in the top spot on Spain’s fiction chart (Harper published the novel in the U.S. in January), followed by Joël Dicker’s The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair, which rose two spots to #2. Penguin Books acquired U.S. rights to Dicker’s novel, for an advance that the imprint reported as the highest it has ever paid; publication is set for May 27.
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 | Die Pilgerjahre des farblosen Herrn Tazaki Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage Haruki Murakami DuMont | Die Schlafwandler The Sleepwalkers Christopher Clark DVA |
| 3 | Das Rosie-Projekt The Rosie Project Graeme Simsion Fischer Krüger | Da geht noch was It’s Never Too Late Christine Westermann Kiepenheuer & Witsch |
| Spain | ||
|---|---|---|
| Fiction | Nonfiction | |
| 1 | El juego de Ripper Ripper Isabel Allende Plaza & Janés | Yo fui a EGB I Went to EGB Javier Ikaz & Jorge Díaz Plaza & Janés |
| 2 | La verdad sobre el caso Harry Quebert The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair Joël Dicker Alfaguara | El dilema de España The Dilemma of Spain Luis Garicano Península |
| 3 | Melocotón loco Crazy Peach Megan Maxwell Esencia | Las 500 dudas más frecuentes del español The 500 Most Common Questions About the Spanish Language Instituto Cervantes Espasa |
| France | ||
|---|---|---|
| Fiction | Nonfiction | |
| 1 | En finir avec Eddy Bellegueule Finishing Off Eddy Bellegueule Edouard Louis Seuil | Du bonheur Happiness Frédéric Lenoir Fayard |
| 2 | Réparer les vivants Repair the Living Maylis de Kerangal Verticales | Voyages en absurdie Travelling Absurdly Stéphane de Groodt, Christophe Debacq Plon |
| 3 | Le chardonneret The Goldfinch Donna Tartt Plon | Mémé Granny Philippe Torreton L’Iconoclaste |
