Just published and on #1 of the Swiss bestseller list: Charles Lewinsky's The Stutterer

The latest novel by the acclaimed author of the international bestselling novel Melnitz is a book about the power of language, both philosophical and playful.

Being a stutterer, Johannes Hosea Stärckle trusts entirely in the power of the written word and uses it ruthlessly, in self-defence and for his career. A fraud case – he calls it literary carelessness – lands him in prison. Using letters, avowals and invented stories, he tries to win over the people who have a say over his life behind bars: the prison chaplain, the drugs boss, his publisher.

The Stutterer has shot to #1 of the Swiss bestseller list on publication.

Here are the first press quotes:
»This is a masterful novel by a writer who has already created a reputation for himself in English [...].«
New Books in German, London

»In his epistolary novel The Stutterer Charles Lewinsky presents a cynical and extremely manipulative narrator – and raises basic questions about the effects of writing.«
Tobias Sedlmaier / Neue Zürcher Zeitung

»With a lot of wit and tempo, Charles Lewinsky cleverly demonstrates how writing can save but also endanger and even kill.«
Julian Schütt / Radio SRF2, Zurich

»The author plays a sophisticated game with a protagonist who shimmers like a chamaeleon […]«
Martin Ebel / Sonntagszeitung, Zurich

An English sample translation is available.

Ingrid Noll’s Good as Gold further praised by the press, still in the top 20 of the Spiegel bestseller list

Ingrid Noll’s Good as Gold was #17 of the Spiegel bestseller list. And the good press keeps coming in, here are a few quotes:
»Her trademark are mystery novels, but she has other things up her sleeve, too.«
Julia Giertz / Frankfurter Neue Presse

»With great precision Ingrid Noll depicts how noble ideals slowly turn into envy, arguments and lies.«
Jessica Stiegelmayer / Augsburger Allgemeine 

»... [Ingrid Noll] yet again turns out to be a skilful suspense writer whom we can openly praise as the German Agatha Christie.«
Ulf Heise / Freie Presse, Chemnitz

»Ingrid Noll’s Good as Gold’s depth and good plot are convincing.«
Petra Pluwatsch / Kölner Stadtanzeiger, Cologne

Just published with illustrations by Sempé: Patrick Süskind's A Battle

Taken from the previously published story collection Three Stories and a Reflection, comes a new edition with wonderful illustrations by Jean-Jacques Sempé.

Two men are seated across a chess board in the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris. One is an ingenious upstart, the other an old champion caught in his old ways.

It’s time for the apéritif, but none of the onlookers would even think of leaving the scene.

Who is the audience’s favourite? And whose king will fall first?

Published in translation: Bernhard Schlink's Olga at Gallimard

Gallimard has launched the 4th reprint of Bernhard Schlink’s Olga, after the book has been among the ›Top 50 Littérature grand format‹ for 9 weeks in a row.

Here are more press quotes: 
»Just like the stubborn Ferdinand, we know we won't forget Olga, a woman who goes on secret nocturnal walks, who dreams of reading Dante's Divine Comedy, votes for the SPD, blames Bismarck for Germany's political extremes, and knows all the cemeteries in the city.«
Alexandre Fillon, Le Figaro Littéraire, Paris

»In this unadorned fresco, the author of the acclaimed The Reader once more effortlessly traverses a century, making the turmoil of history feel almost muted. He also paints a beautiful portrait of a woman, full of tenderness and melancholy.«
Madame Figaro, Paris

»Olga’s success – it is the most sold foreign title according to Datalib – is in large part due to the legitimate parallels [with The Reader] that instantly work.«
Claude Devarrieux / Libération, Paris

»... this magnificent portrait of a woman, makes us walk through a moving century.«
Christian Desmeules / Le Devoir, Montréal

Now published in translation: F.K. Waechter We Can Do So Many Things Together

French edition by Éditions Cambourakis

Daniela Krien’s Love in Case of Emergency: #5 Spiegel bestseller

After Daniela Krien’s promising start, we were thrilled to see her book climb to #5 on the Spiegel bestseller list. In absolute figures after just three weeks more than 30’000 copies have been sold. After the third print run, our total of printed copies is now 70’000.

We have received an offer for the English (UK) rights at the London Book Fair and will keep you posted on this. 

This was partly due to the lyrical press that we have received. Here are a few more quotes:
»Whoever wants to know something about the life of today’s women in a hundred years, will learn it from Daniela Krien’s novel.«
Karin Grossmann / Sächsische Zeitung, Dresden

»With a simple style, that develops its own poetry, Krien guides the reader through the twists and turns of these women’s biographies.«
Melanie Mühl / Frankfurter Allgemeine Woche

»Clear, authentic, cleverly structured.«
Gala, Hamburg

»Love in Case of Emergency leaves an impression by giving an account of women who are lookig for new ways to be happy after classic relationship models have failed.«
Carsten Otte / Der Tagesspiegel, Berlin 

»Whatever choice women make, whichever option they decide for or against – none of them can avoid feeling guilty.«
Ursula März / Die Zeit, Hamburg

»Bit by bit she dissects her female protagonists thoughts and feelings and makes them accessible to us in her deliciously precise and extremely simple language.«
Ute Rodde / Aachener Zeitung

»With every one of the five women, which Daniela Krien brings to life, I had the feeling of having met her.«
Silvia Feist / emotion, Hamburg

»In Love in Case of Emergency Daniela Krien interweaves the fates of her heroines with great sensitivity.«
Madame, Munich

»[ . . .] this novel is an effortless and light read. And very rewarding.«
Donna, Munich

»In all these minefields of love, there is hate and envy, depressing declines and falls, but also down-to-earthy bravery.«
Hartmut Wilmes / Kölnische Rundschau

»A novel that shows how much power there is in the female gender. And that is a reason to be optimistic again.«
Katja Kraft / Münchner Merkur

»In spite of its serious subject, Love in Case of Emergency is a novel that will make your heart jump for joy. And a serious candidate for the shortlist of the ›German Book Prize‹. A real highlight among the 2019 spring titles.«
Gérard Otremba / www.soundsandbooks.com

The English sample translation will be ready by April.

Now published and a New York Times bestseller: Donna Leon's Unto Us a Son is Given

The US edition of Donna Leon’s latest book Unto Us a Son is Given has shot to #12 of the New York Times Fiction bestseller list on publication and is currently in the top 10 of five independent US bestseller lists, including #2 on the Boston Globe fiction bestseller list. It is the 28th title in the series about Venetian police commissioner Guido Brunetti. To say it in the words of the New York Times Book Review: »[…] this cop […] has that rare quality Italians would call un cuore d'oro, a heart of gold.« 

Here's a witty interview with Donna Leon in which she reveals why hypocrisy is her favourite vice and - astonishingly enough - whom she would like as her biographer. 

Just republished: Luis Murschetz Hamster’s Journey

This spring, Diogenes is republishing this enchanting classic children’s book about a clever hamster who rebels and wheels himself out into the big wide world.

Our hero Radel has to attract customers in his hamster wheel and leads a miserable life – until he and the town’s other hamsters manage to break out, leaving their wooden prisons behind, and find delightful accommodation in a wheat field – very close to the field where the mole Grabowski lives.

»Murschetz tells the story of his small hero with the black button eyes in such touching and magical words and pictures that every child wishes for a happy ending behind the turnip field.«
Die Zeit, Hamburg

Now published in translation: Luis Murschetz The Fat Carp Kilobald 

Italian edition by Lupo Guido

Gem from our backlist: Lukas Hartmann Anna annA

Lukas Hartmann’s children’s novel Anna annA was first published 10 years ago, in 2009 – but the question of what it means to be a unique person is even more topical today, when everybody stares into their smartphones like lemmings, regardless of whether they wear a tie and cufflinks or slacks and sneakers.

The book is now only slightly older than its protagonist: Anna annA tells the story of a nine-year-old girl who accidentally duplicates herself and then has to solve the problem of what truly defines her – and what defines her twin sister. And what will her mother say when she finds out ..?  

»A highlight of the kind of fantasy literature that closely builds on reality in Swiss children’s literature.«
Hans ten Doornkaat, Neue Zürcher Zeitung