Almost 40k copies sold of In the Middle of August by Luca Ventura

Up until today, we have sold almost 40’000 copies of Luca Ventura’s In the Middle of August, the first part of the Mediterranean crime series with investigators Enrico Rizzi and Antonia Cirillo. Spanish rights are sold to Catedral, Catalan rights to Univers.

The second part of the series, Bittersweet Lemons, is scheduled to be published in April next year.

A Summer's Tale by Bas Kast on the Spiegel bestseller list for 9 weeks

A Summer's Tale by Bas Kast made it to the Spiegel bestseller list upon publication and has stayed there for 9 weeks. Furthermore, A Summer's Tale was among the Swiss best selling books (schweizer-buchhandel.ch) for two weeks.

And press continues to praise him:

»Bas Kast’s voice is so fresh, lively and carefree that this book – a reminder of what really matters – is a delight.« Britta Heidemann / Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, Essen

»It [the book] doesn’t supply easy answers to life’s great questions. But it does make you think, and the uplifting story is a joy to read.«
Johannes Simon / WDR, Cologne

»Bas Kast has achieved the masterful feat of making something complex feel light.«
Manuela Haselberger / Freie Presse, Chemnitz

If you would like to read the English sample, please get in touch with us.

Charles Lewinsky's Halfbeard on the Swiss bestseller list for 14 weeks

Charles Lewinsky's Halfbeard has remained on the Swiss top 20 bestseller list for 14 weeks now, and counting. Upon publication, he made it to #1. 

Here's the latest press on Halfbeard:

»In Halfbeard, Charles Lewinsky hasn’t only written a rousing novel, but a political one too.«
Anne-Sophie Scholl / Die Republik, Zurich

»Lewinsky’s tome isn’t just an accomplished historical novel, but above all a humorous, ingenious and wonderful celebration of storytelling.«
Heinz Storrer / Schweizer Familie, Zurich

»Just like Sebi can’t stop telling his story, neither can the reader pull themselves away from it – and for the duration of almost 700 captivating pages.«
Stuttgarter Zeitung, Stuttgart

Foreign rights sold:
Dutch (Meridiaan)
Italian (SEM Società Editrice Milanese)
 

Andrey Kurkov's Grey Bees praised by British press

The UK edition by MacLehose (Hachette) received many warm reviews.

»This time, the Ukrainian author of Death and the Penguin, known for his brilliantly dark humour, has written a modern-day odyssey, with a return that is ambiguously hopeful.«
India Lewis / The Arts Desk, London

»In spare prose, Ukraine's most famous novelist unsparingly examines the inhuman confusions of our modern times and the longing of the warm-hearted everyman that is Sergeyich for the rationality of the natural world.«
John Thornhill / Financial Times

»Grey Bees is as timely as the author's Ukraine Diaries were in 2014, but treats the unfolding crisis in a more imaginative way, with a pinch of Kurkov's signature humour.«
Fantasticfiction.com

Rights sold:
Croatian: Bozicevic
Danish: Mr. East
Englisch (world): MacLehose
Farsi: Ofoq
French: Liana Levi
Greek: Kastaniotis
Italian: Keller
Romanian: Paralela 45
 

UK press praises Bernhard Schlink's Olga

There's also beautiful press coverage on the English edition of Bernhard Schlink's Olga by Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

»You should read this novel if you appreciate the power of history. How do we remember each other? As individuals, or as parts of a larger whole?« 
Arjun Neil Alim / Evening Standard, London

Andrew Marr on BBC4's Start the Week programme characterizes Bernhard Schlink as »someone whose books are simple to read, but complex in their ideas« and his character Olga as someone whom Virginia Woolf would have »embraced as a natural sister«.

»It makes for a compelling reading experience.« 
Malcolm Forbes / The Herald, Glasgow

»Fast-paced and ambitious, this is a work that makes you appreciate the power of history.«
The Week, London

»Spanning from the late 19th century to the turn of the 21st, Olga is a fascinating and unforgettable tale that explores a huge variety of important themes.«
The Publishing Post

Olga is published in 29 languages and territories.

Joachim B. Schmidt's Kalmann endorsed by fellow authors, praised by the press

We are especially happy to hear the Icelandic author Hallgrímur Helgason (101 Reykjavík) praise Kalmann:
»A Swiss author has written a book that takes place in Raufarhöfn (!) and has created characters that are more Icelandic than anything Icelandic. What kind of magician is this?«

Sjón is also impressed:
»Joachim B. Schmidt’s novels show a sensitivity to how the accumulation of seemingly small events make up the drama of human life. In his recent books he has built literary bridges between his birth country Switzerland, and Iceland, the country he lives in. In them, as elsewhere, he proves that it is by telling our shared histories and sharing our individual stories that we overcome being strangers and instead meet eye to eye as citizens of a single world.«

Kalmann keeps being praised by the press overall – here are some recent quotes:

»Joachim B. Schmidt, who lives in Iceland, has written an incredible, moving book with an unusual hero who instantaneously wins the reader’s heart.«
Kester Schlenz / Stern, Hamburg

»An incredibly vivid sense of place, and a gifted storyteller.«
Welt am Sonntag, Berlin

»Kalmann is a wonderful non-crime novel, which, because the negated can persist in the negation, is nonetheless a wonderful crime novel.«
Thomas Wörtche / Deutschlandfunk, Cologne

»What makes Kalmann so unique is the language.«
Peter Zander / Berliner Morgenpost

»The Swiss author, himself an inhabitant of Iceland for over 13 years, takes the reader on a journey through a story whose truth and tragedy are revealed little by little and which thus exerts an irresistible pull.«
Jan-Jesse Müller / Translate Swiss Books

»Kalmann’s thoughts are often philosophical pearls, which amaze not just for their simplicity, but also their truth.«
Constanze Matthes / Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, Halle

»A captivatingly charming blend of Fargo und Parsifal [...].«  
Hörzu, Hamburg

»Joachim B. Schmidt depicts his central character with great empathy, psychological tact – and humour. He pulls off his protagonist’s seemingly naive narrative style with great success.«
Christel Wester / Deutschlandfunk, Cologne

Spanish rights of Kalmann are sold to Gatopardo Ediciones.

Colours of Farewell by Bernhard Schlink to be available in 15 languages

Bernhard Schlink's Colours of Farewell has been on the Spiegel bestseller list for 22 weeks now, 15 of which in the top 20.

After selling Dutch, Finnish, French, Macedonian and Spanish rights, the sales list looks like this:

Azerbaijanian: Qanun
Catalan: Enciclopèdia Catalana
Czech: Euromedia
Dutch: Cossee
Finnish: WSOY
French: Gallimard
Greek: Kritiki
Italian: Neri Pozza
Macedonian: Ili-Ili
Romanian: Polirom
Russian: Azbooka-Atticus
Serbian: Plato
Spanish: Anagrama
Vietnamese: Nha Nam Publishing

Colours of Farewell is therefore going to be published in 15 languages so far.

Here are the latest press quotes:

»These stories really pack a punch, and have great depth. Whether they’re about lies, betrayal or guilt.«
Torsten Hunger / MDR Thüringen, Erfurt

»In a sense, this book is a detailed gaze at our living conditions; it debates, in different ways, the question of how we want to coexist.«
Nico Hofmann / Die Zeit Newsletter, Hamburg

Petros Markaris' Times of Hypocrisy praised by Spanish press

»Times of Hypocrisy is an incisive novel which criticizes those who have the power to change things and yet do nothing.«
Miguel Ángel Oeste, El Mundo, Madrid

»In this great novel, as we discover, the murderers are the losers in the system.«
Ángeles López, La Razón, Madrid

»Yes, another novel of considerable political and social consequence with the great Haritos; outstanding and moving.«
Fernando R. Lafuente, ABC, Madrid
 

Tomi Ungerer’s Non Stop praised by the press

We've had some excellent press of late for Non Stop upon the recent publication of the English edition by Phaidon. The Guardian lists the title among the »best new picture books and novels« in their children’s book roundup. In his review for The New York Times, Dave Eggers points out the life-affirming qualities of Non Stop that are dearly needed in times of crisis. And The Financial Times simply nominated it as one of the best new children’s books. Here are some essential quotes and the links to the respective articles:

»With a palette of mauvey pinks, twilit blues and velvet black, it’s characteristically weird, unsettling and wonderful.«
Imogen Russell Williams / The Guardian, London

»Ungerer has created an all-ages classic, a fitting capstone on a fearless career — and just in time.«
Dave Eggers / The New York Times

»There’s huge poignancy in Ungerer’s brooding, surreal imagery […]«
James Lovegrove / Financial Times, London

Furthermore, Bear Books secured Korean rights, taking the language count to 9 – this is the list of rights sales as of now:

Catalan: Kalandraka
Chinese (simplified characters): Feel
English: Phaidon
French: L'École des Loisirs
Italian: Orecchio Acerbo
Korean: Bear Books
Spanish: Kalandraka

Reiner Zimnik turns 90 on 13 December 2020

Reiner Zimnik is one of the really big German children's books illustrators. His books, such as Bill's Balloon Ride and The Bear on the Motorbike are modern classics. He turns 90 on 13 December 2020.