In France, the fiction bestseller list at the end of November was crowned by a pair of prizewinning novels about World War II: Eric Vuillard’s The Agenda, which fictionalizes the events leading up to the Nazi invasion of Austria in 1938, won this year’s top French literary award, the Prix Goncourt. Olivier Guez’s The Disappearance of Josef Mengele, at #2, won France’s Renaudot Prize and imagines the Nazi doctor’s postwar life in South America up to his death in 1979.
The Italian combined bestseller list has a pair of titles published by Mondadori among its top three bestsellers. Fabio Volo’s new novel, When Everything Starts, about a star-crossed romance, is in the #1 spot. The author, who is also an actor and media personality, has had numerous international bestsellers. Translations of his books have been published in English by Open Road.
Spain’s top-selling fiction title was The Invisible Fire by Javier Sierra, which won this year’s Planeta Prize. The thriller, centering on an Irish academic’s hunt for the Holy Grail, is reminiscent of the work of Dan Brown, whose latest sits in the #2 spot. At #3 on the list is Fatherland by Fernando Abramburu, a novel about the violent legacy of the militant group ETA that is being developed as a television series by HBO Spain. Atop the nonfiction list is In Defense of Spain by Stanley G. Payne, which challenges some of the most cherished myths of Spain’s history.
France
| Fiction | Nonfiction | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | L’ordre du jour The Agenda Eric Vuillard Actes Sud | Servir Serve Pierre de Villiers Fayard |
| 2 | La disparition de Josef Mengele The Disappearance of Josef Mengele Olivier Guez Grasset et Fasquelle | Le miracle Spinoza The Miracle Spinoza Frédéric Lenoir Fayard |
| 3 | Origine Origin Dan Brown Lattès | La vie secrète des arbres The Hidden Life of Trees Peter Wohlleben Les Arènes |
For the week ended Nov. 26; used by arrangement with Gfk/Livres Hebdo
Italy
| Combined Fiction and Nonfiction | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quando tutto inizia When Everything Starts Fabio Volo Arcobaleno | 4 | Un angelo in paese An Angel in the Country Mario Delpini Centro Ambrosiano |
| 2 | Origin Origin Dan Brown Mondadori | 5 | Oltre l’inverno In the Midst of Winter Isabel Allende Feltrinelli |
| 3 | Ogni storia è una storia d’amore Every Story Is a Love Story Alessandro D’Avenia Mondadori | 6 | Peccato originale Original Sin Gianluigi Nuzzi Chiarelettere |
For the week ended Nov. 17; used by arrangement with Informazioni Editoriali
Spain
| Fiction | Nonfiction | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | El fuego invisible The Invisible Fire Javier Sierra Planeta | En defensa de España In Defense of Spain Stanley G. Payne Espasa |
| 2 | Origen Origin Dan Brown Planeta | El poder del ahora The Power of Now Eckhart Tolle Gaia |
| 3 | Patria Fatherland Fernando Aramburu Tusquets | Decir no no basta No Is Not Enough Naomi Klein Paidós |
For the week ended Nov. 28; used by arrangement with El Cultural
