Book sales: parity on the move

It’s near parity! Yes, there are almost as many women novelists as men in our list of fiction, and a very good female proportion in that of essays. So what ? And so, we got used to it, but it wasn’t always the case, far from it – we remember the years when the publishing world was hit by sexism, accused of giving priority to the male sex. Today, the evolution is obvious, and irreversible it seems. Something to delight the historian and feminist Michelle Perrot, author these days of Time of feminismsco-written with Eduardo Castillo.

If we take a closer look at our prize lists, we see that the average age of novelists, most of them experienced (many of them in their sixties, the oldest being Le Clézio, 82), is much higher to that of their sisters, many of whom are boosted by social networks. The opposite is true for the essayists, whose youngest are in their thirties (Prince Harry, Pierre Chaillot) and the oldest (Ginette Kolinka)… 98 years old. Conclusion: there is no more age or privileged sex to be published. Marianne Payot

11. A makeshift shelter

By Agnes Ledig

Revealed by Just before happiness, Maison de la presse 2013 prize, the former Alsatian midwife, queen of feel good, accumulates stratospheric sales. His ninth novel, the story of dented characters who have come to take refuge in a Vosges building in the middle of nature, will he meet the same fate?

4. PPDA. The black prince

By Romain Verley

Investigative journalist Romain Verley has signed for Further investigation the documentary PPDA, the fall of an untouchable. Then he deepened his work by multiplying the testimonies on the Botton, Castro, Aristophil cases… and on the complaints of rape and sexual assault against PPDA, which some of the alleged victims did not appreciate. Still, the book, released on February 8 and printed in 20,000 copies, moved directly to 4th place in the charts.

Italy

The Vita intima

Per Niccolo Ammaniti

Famous for his novels I am not afraid (2001 Viareggio award) or even As God wills (Strega Prize 2007), the Italian novelist and director (and ex-leader of “cannibalistic literature”) has a string of successes. The Vita intimawhich recounts the torments of the wife of a Prime Minister who is the recipient of a video that is a source of secrets, takes first place in the list of Corriere della Sera.