Transient Desires, #30 in the Brunetti series, ranked #2 on the Spiegel bestseller list

It’s time to celebrate: just a few days ago, our German edition of Donna Leon’s 30th case for Commissario Brunetti was released. On 26 May, Transient Desires appeared on the bookshelves and is currently on #2 of the Spiegel bestseller list. And although we’ve almost grown used to it, it feels fantastic to witness how Donna Leon steadily wins the podium places with every new Brunetti.

On this occasion, we have dedicated a microsite (in German) to Donna Leon and Transient Desires, including a competition for a trip to Venice, an updated city map showing the key sites where the Brunetti novels are set, and information on the series and the accompanying publications. You’ll find it here. 

Foreign rights sold:
Catalan (Edicions 62)
Dutch (De Bezige Bij)
English/UK (William Heinemann)
English/USA (Grove/Atlantic)
French (Calmann-Lévy)
Spanish/world (Seix Barral)

»Needless to say, by venturing outside the comfort zone of his own prejudices, this deeply simpatico detective learns a lot about his city, his countrymen and himself. And so do we.«
Marilyn Stasio / New York Times Book Review

»Donna Leon’s Brunetti series is an epic achievement.«
Mark Sanderson / The Times, London

»Transient Desires is skillfully constructed. As it takes a while for the full extent of what the Commissario is letting himself in for to become clear, the impact of the events is all the more forceful.«
Markus Wüest / Tages-Anzeiger, Zurich

»One of the best Brunettis – and again with a surprise twist.«
Julia Gaß / Ruhr Nachrichten, Dortmund

Noir sur Blanc wins six-way auction for French rights of The Ex-Son by Sasha Filipenko, Edizioni E/O buys Italian rights

Our six-way auction for French rights of Sasha Filipenko’s The Ex-Son has ended after three rounds and Noir sur Blanc has snapped up the rights. Italian rights go to Edizioni E/O.

The Ex-Son has been or will be published in:
Dutch (Meridiaan)
French (Noir sur Blanc)
Italian (Edizioni E/O)
Japanese (Shueisha)
Russian original (Vremya)

And of course, press reactions to our German edition of The Ex-Son remain enthusiastic:

»The Ex-Son couldn’t have appeared at a more fitting time than the Lukashenko twilight in Belarus.«
Jens Uthoff / taz, Berlin

»Highly topical, skilfully narrated and deeply moving.«
Dagmar Kaindl / Buchkultur, Wien

»In this novel, humorous and bitter in turn, Filipenko depicts a country living in a state of paralysis, beneath a blanket of fear.«
Kristian Teetz / Sonntag, Hannover

»And yet The Ex-Son envisions the end of this dictator: almost a Good Bye, Batka!»
Peter Zander / Berliner Morgenpost, Berlin
 

Czech and Slovak rights of Hard Land by Benedict Wells sold

We have struck two new foreign rights deals for Hard Land in the last four weeks: Albatros bought Czech and Slovak rights for their imprints Kniha Zlín and Lindeni. Furthermore, we are currently negotiating a Chinese deal. 

Here's the full list of rights sold:
Catalan (Les Hores)
Chinese (to be announced)
Czech (Albatros/Kniha Zlín)
Dutch (Meulenhoff)
French (Slatkine)
Hungarian (Geopen)
Norwegian (Forlaget Press)
Polish (Wydawnictwo Poznanskie)
Portuguese (ASA)
Slovak (Albatros/Lindeni)

Furthermore, Hard Land has spent 14 weeks – and counting – in the top ten of the Spiegel bestseller list. 

»With Hard Land, Benedict Wells has once again achieved a moving blend of humour and emotion, as universally impressive as the genre promises.«
Tanja Ochs / Heilbronner Stimme, Heilbronn

»This book is carefully narrated, and despite the sometimes tough themes, there are no heavy collisions; many goose bumps, but no barrage of effects.«
Torsten Unger / MDR Thüringen, Leipzig
 

François von Hurter and his author Joachim B. Schmidt on the Fagradalsfjall

François von Hurter is the publisher of Bitter Lemon Press, Joachim B. Schmidt's British home for his novel Kalmann. A few weeks ago, François von Hurter (seen on the right) visited the author (left side) and they went to the newly erupted Fagradalsfjall volcano in south-western Iceland, close to Reykjavík. 

Now published in translation: Hard Land by Benedict Wells in Norwegian

Norwegian edition by Forlaget Press (Oslo)

»The style is light and airy, and the pages almost turn themselves [...] Hard Land is a book which is hard not to like. It is well written and well composed. «
Gabriel Moro / VG, Oslo

»[…] it is precisely this ›coming-of-age‹ feeling that Benedict Wells has captured so painfully and precisely. And perhaps it is this psychological flair that has earned him a reputation as a cult writer. « 
Inger Bentzrud / Dagbladet, Oslo

Now published in translation: Love in Case of Emergency by Daniela Krien in Finnish

Finnish edition by Lurra (Helsinki)

Now published: Brunetti's Miscellany: A Guide for Cautious Optimists

Why do readers all over the world love Brunetti like a friend with whom they've gone through thick and thin? Probably because he's as much a philosopher as he is a detective. He strives tirelessly to understand his fellow human beings. As an Italian, bon vivant and family man, he believes in the good life, despite all the hindrances and villains around us. This book is a collection of the best observations by the most renowned, smartest and popular Commissario around: An ABC of the art of living.

»He reads, he's witty, and he can be ironic too. He is happily married, has lovely children and leads a respectable life - even before his first appearance, I knew that he would be someone I liked.«
Donna Leon

Brunetti's Venice: The updated edition on the occasion of Brunetti’s 30th case, now published

What would a 30th anniversary be without the presents? Here's our ideal complement to the incredible series: 13 literary walks through 30 criminal cases, completely updated.

Calli, campi and cafes: throughout all these years, the Commissario has not just remained loyal to his family, but also to his favourite corners of the city. Toni Sepeda has meticulously traced Brunetti's whereabouts in the alleys of Venice, compiling all the things that take place around the Questura, in San Polo or at the Ospedale Civile. This book allows readers to discover Brunetti's Venice on location or at home.

Brunetti's Venice has been or will be published in these territories:
Catalan (Edicions 62)
English/UK (William Heinemann)
English/USA (Grove/Atlantic)
French (Calmann-Lévy)
Polish (Noir sur Blanc)
Spanish (Seix Barral)

Love in Case of Emergency by Daniela Krien praised by English-speaking media

British and Irish press are raving about the MacLehose edition of Love in Case of Emergency:

»Highly recommended«
Sunday Times, London
  
»Unfailingly impressive«
Irish Times, Dublin

»Utterly captivating [...] A beautifully written masterclass in human frailty.«
Woman's Weekly, London

»Written in unsentimental, affecting prose, this is an intelligent study of female desire, ambition and frailty«
Hannah Beckerman / The Observer, London 
 
»Sparse and precise«
The Telegraph, London (Novel of the Week ****)
 
»A beautiful novel of what it is to be a woman in modern Europe«
The New European, London
 
»Make yourself a hot chocolate or pour a glass of Grauburgunder; you’ll be in Germany any minute«
Saga, London

»Punchy and entirely of the moment, Love in Five Acts engages head-on with what it is to be a woman in the twenty-first century.«
Goethe-Institut, London

Moreover, we are currently negotiating deals for Polish and Russian rights – here's the list of rights sold:
Arabic (Al-Arabi)
Bulgarian (Sluntse)
Catalan (Bromera)
Chinese/CN (Beijing Publishing Group)
Danish (Arvids)
Dutch (Ambo/Anthos)
English/UK (MacLehose)
English/USA (HarperCollins)
Estonian (Varrak)
Finnish (Lurra)
French (Albin Michel)
Hebrew (Keter)
Hungarian (Maxim)
Italian (Garzanti)
Lithuanian (Gelmes Publishing)
Norwegian (Forlaget Press)
Polish (to be announced)
Romanian (Humanitas Fiction)
Russian (to be announced)
Serbian (Booka)
Slovenian (Mladinska knjiga)
Spanish/world (Grijalbo)
Swedish (Louise Bäckelin)
Thai (Library House)

Just published: The 20th of July by Bernhard Schlink

The last day of school falls on the 20th of July, the anniversary of an assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler. The previous day, the right-wing party ›Deutsche Aktion‹ with their charismatic young leader won 37 percent of the vote in the regional election. In history class, a heated discussion arises between the final year students and their teacher: shouldn't the assassination attempt have been carried out 13 years earlier, in 1931? What can be learned for the future? Is it better to keep one's hands clean, or to risk getting them dirty?

A lesson about morals, responsibility and making decisions. Bernhard Schlink's first play is a disturbing mind game about the presence of the past and about the price of trade: being left with dirty hands. 

»Bernhard Schlink’s ›contemporary play‹ leaves (almost) all questions open – and stays in your mind.«
Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, Essen

»A provocative depiction of a moment in time.«
Focus, Berlin

»He plays through the thought in an almost classical way, in five scenes, awakening associations with Rolf Hochhuth or Hans Magnus Enzensberger.«
Welf Grombacher / Märkische Allgemeine Zeitung, Potsdam

Starred review in Publishers Weekly: The Basel Killings by Hansjörg Schneider in English

»This gripping, plausible debut bodes well for future entries.« Publishers Weekly

»This is an absorbing story; Hansjörg Schneider paints a disturbing picture of a cruelty that has lain undiscussed behind the façade of Swiss propriety and complacency; and all the while he keeps us guessing right to the end.«
Max Easterman /  The European Literature Network

The English edition by Bitter Lemon Press (London) is going to be published in July.