To see the international success of E.L. James’s Fifty Shades trilogy, just take a look at Italy, where the entire trilogy figures among the top six bestselling October titles. The only title to overtake the Fifty Shades books was Hold on Hope: Christmas Letter to the Family 2012 by Angelo Cardinal Scola, who also wrote The Nuptial Mystery, published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing in 2005. Even though all three books in the trilogy have slipped in the rankings in Italy (Fifty Shades of Grey from #1 to #2; Darker from #3 to #4; Freed from #4 to #6), James can take comfort in the sales in France, where Fifty Shades of Grey debuted at #1. Behind the blockbuster in France are two other fiction megahits: Winter of the World and then The Casual Vacancy.
On the nonfiction side in France, self-help author Boris Cyrulnik’s Save Yourself, Life Is Calling You takes the #1 spot. Tarcher published Cyrulnik’s Resilience: How Your Inner Strength Can Set You Free from the Past in February.
Germany’s #1 fiction title is Bad Wolf by Nele Neuhaus. The German novelist will see her first book published in the U.S. in January when Snow White Must Die comes out from Minotaur.
International Bestsellers
Germany
| Fiction | Nonfiction | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Böser Wolf Bad Wolf Nele Neuhaus Ullstein | Neukölln ist überall Neukölln Is Everywhere Heinz Buschkowsky Ullstein |
| 2 | Er ist wieder da He’s Back Timur Vermes Eichborn | BLUFF! Die Fälschung der Welt Bluff! The Falsification of the World Manfred Lütz Droemer |
| 3 | Winter der Welt Winter of the World Ken Follett Bastei Lübbe | Die Kunst des klaren Denkens The Art of Precise Reasoning Rolf Dobelli Carl Hanser |
Italy
| Combined | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tenere accesa la speranza. Lettera di Natale alle famiglie 2012 Hold on Hope: Christmas Letter to the Family 2012 Angelo Scola Centro Ambrosiano | Cinquanta sfumature di nero Fifty Shades Darker E.L. James Mondadori |
| 2 | Cinquanta sfumature di grigio Fifty Shades of Grey E.L. James Mondadori | Mettiamoci a cucinare Let’s Get Cooking Benedetta Parodi Mondadori |
| 3 | Una voce di notte A Voice in the Night Andrea Camilleri Sellerio Editore Palermo | Cinquanta sfumature di rosso Fifty Shades Freed E.L. James Mondadori |
France
| Fiction | Nonfiction | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cinquante nuances de Grey Fifty Shades of Grey E.L. James Lattès | Sauve-toi, la vie t’appelle Save Yourself, Life Is Calling You Boris Cyrulnik Odile Jacob |
| 2 | Le siècle, tome 2: L’hiver du monde Winter of the World Ken Follett Robert Laffont | Patients Patients Grand Corps Malade Don Quichotte editions |
| 3 | Une place à prendre The Casual Vacancy J.K. Rowling Grasset | Le dictionnaire de Laurent Baffie The Dictionary of Laurent Baffie Laurent Baffie Editions Kero |
