Erich Hackl ranked # 1 on Austrian bestseller list 

Erich Hackl’s latest novel Roped Together made it to # 1 on the Austrian bestseller list and to # 1 on the monthly ranking for August and September by Austrian public radio ORF.

Besides that, the press is raving about the book:
»Roped Together reads like an exciting case record based on circumstantial evidence to investigate a case of moral courage.«
Martin Doerry / Der Spiegel, Hamburg

»The tone is restrained, the story vast and stirring.«
Martina Sulner / Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung

 

Chris Kraus’ Summer Women, Winter Women praised by the press

A movie about sex. Raw and radical. In New York. That is the task Jonas has been given. But how is the film student, who is out of his depth, supposed to make a movie in the darkest corner of the Lower East Side, surrounded by stranded artists? When he meets Nele, a headstrong, dazzling summer woman, his eyes are opened to the true purpose of his trip: an encounter with his own horrific family history.

The press is enthusiastic about the book, here are a few quotes:
»Chris Kraus has written a fanciful novel about guilt and love.«
Jana Felgenhauer / Spiegel Online

»My book of the year!«
Kristian Thees / SWR3, Stuttgart

»… in its topics the novel unifies the merciless, the funny and the private.«
Hildegard Lorenz / Münchner Merkur

»With Summer Women, Winter Women Kraus lives up to his name as a brilliant story-teller.«
Ute Krebs / Freie Presse, Chemnitz

»In his extraordinarily beautiful language, author and director Chris Kraus tells the story of uptight art student Jonas, who is supposed to make a sex film in 1990s New York.«
Barbara, Hamburg

»This has resulted in a breathtakingly beautiful, profoundly touching love story, filled with detailed snapshots of failed existences. They struggle with everyday life in which there is too little room for dreams between all the piles of garbage, that keep growing, especially the emotional ones.«
Jens-Uwe Sommerschuh / Sächsische Zeitung, Dresden

»Particularly fascinating is the dissecting look at the abysses of New York and of its inhabitants.«
Monika von Aufschnaiter / BR 5, Munich

»Chris Kraus knows no shame. […] Which makes the book so appealing.«
Peter Zander / Berliner Morgenpost

Bernhard Schlink’s Olga has been in the top 20 of the Spiegel bestseller list for 29 weeks

Bernhard Schlink’s latest novel Olga remained in the top 20 of the Spiegel bestseller list for 29 weeks, more than half a year. The novel made it to # 1 in January.

International rights sales have climbed up to 22 with Polish, Czech, Portuguese and Japanese rights – as well as English rights – sold recently. The full list of rights sales:
Chinese/CN (Thinkingdom)
Croatian (Vorto Palabra, an imprint of Znanje)
Czech (Euromedia)
Dutch (Cossee)
English/UK (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
French (Gallimard)
Greek (Kritiki)
Hungarian (21.Század Kiadó)
Icelandic (Forlagid)
Italian (Neri Pozza)
Japanese (Shinchosha)
Korean (Sigongsa)
Macedonian (Ili-Ili)
Norwegian (Gyldendal Norsk)
Polish (REBIS)
Portuguese (ASA)
Romanian (Polirom)
Russian (Azbooka-Atticus)
Serbian (Plato)
Spanish/world (Anagrama)
Turkish (Dogan Egmont)
Ukrainian (Hemiro)

Lukas Hartmann awarded the ›Literature Prize of the Canton of Berne‹

Lukas Hartmann was awarded this year’s ›Literature Prize of the Canton of Berne‹ for his historical novel A Picture of Lydia. Out of 90 books, the commission chose six including A Picture of Lydia. Each of the six prizes comes with an honorarium of 10’000 Swiss Francs. The award ceremony was held in Berne on 26 June.

Enthusiastic press reactions keep coming:
»The plot has got everything it takes to make it a riveting novel. And it also has the special note of being based on a true story.«
Birgit Ruf / Nürnberger Nachrichten

»A true story about Lydia Welti-Escher and Karl Stauffer-Bern, told by their maid. With fascinating insights into high society.«
Freundin, Munich

The Truth about Lying ranked #9 on Spiegel bestseller list

Upon publication at the beginning of September, Benedict Wells’ short story collection The Truth about Lying shot straight to # 9 on the Spiegel bestseller list. It has remained in the top 20 ever since.

These are stories about everything and nothing. Stories about the misfortune of being free, and about a woman facing an existential decision. About a place where no one goes voluntarily, yet still becomes a home. About a struggling present-day screenwriter catapulted back to the New Hollywood of 1973, giving him four years’ time to steal the most famous movie idea of the 20th century.

Praise by the press:
»It is hard to say which story appeals the most, they are all very well written [...]«
Manuela Haselberger / Freie Presse Chemnitz

»And all of this in the laconic and exact tone, which I like so much about Benedict Wells.«
Klaus Sturm, Kristian Thees / SWR 3, Stuttgart

»Very different topics, very different short stories, you can follow the author’s development in them.«
Marie Kaiser / radio eins rbb, Berlin

Donna Leon‘s The Temptation of Forgiveness ranked #2 on the Spiegel bestseller list

Donna Leon’s latest novel The Temptation of Forgiveness was # 2 on the Spiegel bestseller list in week 23 and remained in the top ten for eight weeks. The novel also made it to # 11 on the New York Times bestseller list.
The Temptation of Forgiveness is the 27th book in the series about Venice-based Commissario Guido Brunetti. The series has been successful for decades – and is still going strong.

Praise by the press:
»The latest Brunetti is different. More than ever, Leon brings her knowledge of philology in to bear, raising philosophical questions and using Brunetti as a mouthpiece for socio-political criticism. [...] And that is as entertaining as ever.«
Frauke Kaberka / dpa, Hamburg

»The author cleverly constructs a contrast to a world which is built on egocentricity and the exploitation of people, institutions and nature.«
Simone Dattenberger / Münchner Merkur

»No summer without Donna Leon!«
Andrea Braunsteiner / woman, Vienna

Rights sold:
Catalan (Grup 62)
Dutch (De Bezige Bij)
English/UK (William Heinemann)
English/USA (Grove /Atlantic)
Finnish (Otava)
French (Calmann-Lévy)
Polish (Noir sur Blanc)
Spanish (Seix Barral)

The Italian edition of Petros Markaris’ novel Three Graces reached #3 on the Foreign Fiction list of the Corriere della Sera

The Italian edition of Three Graces reached #1 on the bestseller list of ibis.it, #3 on the Foreign Fiction list and #9 on the General Fiction list of the Corriere della Sera. Just like the previous cases this latest one for Costas Haritos has been published by La Nave di Teseo.

Rights sold:
Italian (La nave di Teseo)
Spanish/world (Tusquets)

Leinsee on the shortlist for the favourite book of independent bookshops

As one of five books, Leinsee has been nominated for this year’s German Independent Booksellers’ prize (more information here).

The press continues to praise the novel:
»Leinsee is an ideal holiday novel for on the road.«
Elke Heidenreich / WDR 4 Buchtipps, Cologne

»Anne Reinecke’s debut novel is many things: eloquent, melancholic, humorous, profound. She vividly describes her torn main character and Karl’s attempts to make up for his lost childhood with eight-year-old Tanja, who sneaks into his garden.«
Daniela Stohn / Brigitte, Hamburg

»A feather-light artist's novel that starts with death and develops into a tender, mother-of-pearl white cloud.«
Manuela Haselberger / BücherMagazin, Kiel

»In her debut, Anne Reinecke pokes fun at artists’ clichés and incidentally presents us with a magical love story.«
Birgit Eckes / Kölnische Rundschau

»Leinsee is a highly entertaining, almost fairy-tale like novel, that is well meaning towards readers.« Otto A. Böhmer / Wiener Zeitung