In France, The Unknown of the Seine by Guillaume Musso, about a woman who seemingly returns from the dead, was the #1 title in late October. Musso is France’s most popular author, with more than 28 million copies sold in more than 40 languages, according to research firm GFK. His books are published in English by Little, Brown. Agnes Ledig’s romance The Tiny Queen took the second slot.
Prolific thriller writer Sebastian Fitzek regularly tops German fiction bestseller lists, and he’s done so again in late October with Playlist, about an investigation into the disappearance of a teenager that seeks clues in her music playlists. More and more of Fitzek’s titles have been appearing in English lately, published by Head of Zeus. Antje Rávik Strubel’s The Blue Woman, about a young woman recovering from being raped, won the 2021 German Book Prize, the country’s top fiction award, and was at #2.
It Italy, J.K. Rowling’s children’s book The Christmas Pig was the bestselling book overall in late October, topping the combined bestseller list. Romance writer Sveva Casati Modignani’s latest, Love Works Miracles, was at #2. Though Modignani’s books have been published in 20 countries and sold more than 12 million copies, according to news service anaa.it, her works have yet to be translated into English.
Among nonfiction titles that originated in the U.S., only Renegades by Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen hit high on international lists, appearing at #3 in Germany.
