A veritable
odyssey of titles appears this month on the bestseller
list from Greece, at the top of which is The Three
Widows by Dora Yiannakopoulou, which traces
the lives and friendships of three women who become
friends after the death of their husbands, a bond which
is sorely tested by the awkward realization that all
three have fallen in love with the same man. The women
are trapped in a web of guilt over crimes committed
and secrets kept, and can only release themselves from
one another with the price of a life. The Three Widows
is Yiannakopoulou’s fourth novel, the three previous
works being Trying on the Wedding Dress, The
Great Stage, and With the ‘Yes’ of Love.
All were bestsellers, and all have been made into Greek
feature films. Kastaniotis controls foreign sales;
contact Maria Fakinou (tel. 30-1-33-01-208, fax
30-1-38-22-530).
Also on
the Greek list is The Pencil Factory by Soti
Triantafyllou, a weighty historical novel that opens
in Cairo in the 1860s and concludes in Athens on the
eve of World War II. It traces the friendship between
Stefanos Assimakis, a genius engineer on the Suez Canal
project, and Nicos Vangelis, a heavy-smoking, hard-living
political revolutionary. In the expansive tradition
of the European novel of ideas, this work wanders from
exchanges of social thought on the Left Bank in Paris
to revolution in Cairo, along the way taking in sexual
intrigue in the Congo and political freedom in Zurich.
Originally published in February 2000, The Pencil
Factory has sold over 40,000 copies, with rights
sold thus far only in Germany. The author’s new novel,
Poor Margo, was written in English, and its Greek
translation will be published in October. Triantafyllou
has also published three collections of short stories,
four bestselling novels, and a children’s book. See
Nikos Trantis at Patakis for rights (fax
30-1-362-8950).
Political
intrigue continues in Greece with Nikos Themelis,
a writer whose day job is Counselor for Foreign Affairs
to the Prime Minister. Initially, publishers were wary
of touching so politically connected an author, but
he’s struck it rich with his first novel The Subversion,
which sold a total of 42,000 copies in 21 reprints.
His current book, The Search, is set in 19th-century
Greece, and tells the story of protagonist Nikolas in
six different voices. Originally published in 1998,
it’s turning into a secure long-term bestseller with
sales now up to 52,000 copies and a 26th printing. Rights
have been sold in Germany, Italy, and Turkey, and are
handled by Maria Zampara at Kedros (fax
30-1-33-02-655).
Lastly
in Greece, I, Martha Freud at #9 is the first-person
narrative of Freud’s wife, Martha, and an imaginative
dip into the psyche of a woman about whom little is
known. As the publicists ask: Who was Martha Freud?
What did it mean to be married to the man whose work
refuted everything we had taken for granted about our
psychological existence? In this novel Mrs. F lives
a dual life: the public veneer of a devoted wife and
mother of six, and a private life chock full of forbidden
thoughts, dark desires, and shameless actions. Author
Fotini Tsalikoglou was born in Athens and is
professor of psychology at the Panteion University of
Athens. Rights are handled by Maria Fakinou at Kastaniotis
(see above).
While we’re
on the subject of dark desires, France has been heating
up between the sheets with the sensational release of
The Sex Life of Catherine M. Author Catherine
Millet is editor of ArtPress, a contemporary
art magazine in France, and is a well-known personality
on the nation’s art scene. What the publisher is calling
“our hip book of the moment” is said to be a frank voyage
through the author’s own sexual history, told with “bewildering
bluntness and clarity” — and comes straight out of the
great French erotic tradition of Colette and
Nin. Immediately hailed as a classic by culture
vulture Bernard Pivot of TV’s closely watched
weekly French arts round-up Bouillon de Culture,
the book sold through its initial print run of 10,000
by the end of the first day on the shelves in early
April, and Seuil is now frantically printing
some 10,000 copies per day. The total print run is up
to 90,000, and translation deals have been made in Italy
(Mondadori), Spain (Anagrama), and Portugal
(Asa). German, Catalan, and English language
rights are under discussion; see Jennie Dorny
at Seuil.
Meanwhile
in France, it seems Harry Potter now has a Francophone
little sister. Plon’s new bestseller, also published
in early April, is the first in a series of young adult
fantasy books called Peggy-Sue and the Ghosts,
boasting a sassy, crime-solving teenage heroine in magic
glasses. Things have been going badly ever since the
appearance of a blue sun in the skies over the city.
The dogs are playing chess, and the cats have become
mind readers. And as for the shoes, they’re prowling
through the streets with the firm intention to kick
the behinds of their former wearers. Set in a world
whose boundaries only exist at the limits of the imagination,
the first volume in the series, The Day of the Blue
Dog, sets Peggy-Sue off to save the world from the
invisible beings coming through the walls to play often
deadly pranks on unsuspecting mortals. The author, Serge
Brussolo, is a prolific sci-fi, fantasy, and thriller
novelist considered by many critics to be France’s Stephen
King. The first print run of 60,000 copies sold
out on the day of the publication, and there are now
90,000 copies in circulation. Rights are sold so far
in Korea, Greece, Hungary, and Portugal. US rights are
handled by Kathryn Nanovic-Morlet at the French
Publishers Agency.
A last
quick mention for Ned’s Head by Soren Olsson
and Anders Jacobsson, which is finally to be
published stateside by S&S. It is being translated
and “culturally adapted” for the American reader by
the authors and translator Kevin Read. Originally
published as Bert’s Diary in 1987 and a bestseller
in Sweden, the book has now been translated into more
than fourteen languages and has combined sales topping
five million. Ned has now become a household name, outselling
every book in every literary category in Sweden since
1990, including the Pippi Longstocking series,
previously Sweden’s foremost literary export. There
are now 14 books in the Ned series, all of which have
debuted as Swedish bestsellers. Ned has also been adapted
for TV in a 12-episode series, and the franchise continues
as feature-length motion pictures in Sweden, Germany,
Holland, and Finland.
