It’s always instructive to take a look at foreign charts, even if they are sometimes boringly truistic. Thus romance and fantasy, with or without dragons, which are invading the best-selling fiction books in many countries. At the forefront of the field, the American Sarah J. Maas, whose series Crescent City particularly successful in the United States, Great Britain and Italy. Another American to make her mark in these countries, Rebecca Yarros with her series Empyrean which reaches new heights. Note that Spain and Germany seem “spared” by this chivalrous wave.
At home, as everywhere, it is the thriller that shines. With in-house authors. So, according to El Cultural, Eduardo Mendoza prances in the lead with his new novel, Very enigmas for the Organization, which offers a puzzle in the Barcelona of 2022, followed by Mikel Santiago, author ofThe old manwhich transports the reader to the heart of the Basque Country, then back to Barcelona with Alicia Giménez Bartlett (The woman fugitive). In Germany, according to Spiegel, Ursula Poznanski offers a successful escape game (Die Burg) and Sebastian Fitzek his latest psychothriller (Die Einladung). Note that across the Rhine, the prize goes to the event novel by the Japanese Haruki Murakami, Die Stadt und ihre ungewisse Mauer (release planned in France in 2025).
In fact, the real diversification is on the testing side. THE Sunday Times informs us that the Charles III by Robert Hardman is a success, as is the work on the heritage of the British empire by Sathnam Sanghera. In Germany, the Zauber der Stille by Florian Illies dealing with the adventures of Caspar David Friedrich wins the day; in the USA, Killers Of The Flower Moonby David Grann, boosted by the film by Martin Scorsese, continues to dominate the charts of the New York Times ; in Spain, the 1972 crash in the Andes of the flight from Uruguay (The society of snow, of Pablo Vierci) returns to the forefront and, in Italy, mafia and politics are linked via the book-interview with magistrate Nino Di Matteo by Saverio Lodato. So many works which will not have all the honors of French readers…