New book from France`s `Sexual Life` author Millet due out
A new work by best-selling "Sexual Life" author Catherine Millet is among 676 books due out in France for the autumn literary "rentree", including books from Scandinavia, Germany and eastern Europe.
Millet, whose explicit blockbuster "The Sexual Life of Catherine M" was translated into more than a score of languages and sold 400,000 copies in France alone, this time tackles jealousy in "Jour de Souffrance" (Day of Suffering) which comes out late this month.
The book is her first in seven years since the success of her sexual adventures and 100,000 copies are due to hit the shelves.
Also on the potential best-seller list of French-penned titles is a 17th novel by Belgium`s somewhat gothic Amelie Nothomb, perhaps best-known for her autobiographically-inspired 2003 book "Fear and Trembling".
France`s annual offering of new books traditionally hit the shelves at the start of the school year in September, with critics gearing up to select the best of the fare for the country`s November literary awards.
While big-name publishing-houses such as Gallimard are printing less titles, smaller publishers are continuing to sprout, leaving this year`s offer of new books only slightly down in comparison to 2007, when 727 works hit the shelves.
Around a third of the books being released are translations, but English-language writers this year are competing with works from other nations.
Acclaim for Sweden`s bestselling "Millennium" crime trilogy by the late Stieg Larsson notably has opened the way for Scandinavian writers such as Iceland`s Kristin Marja Baldursdottir or Norway`s Morten Ramsland.
But German-speaking writers too are set to cram bookshops with 22 new titles including works by young authors Sasa Stanisic as well as a saga about a Swiss Jewish family, "Melnitz" by Charles Lewinsky.
Poland`s young literary star Dorota Maslowska is also being translated into French along with Russian writers Alexei Ivanov and Lev Misha.
Of the 109 English-language writers translated into French -- the lion`s share of the 210 foreign novels being released this season -- top of the critics` crop from the United States are Richard Russo`s "Bridge of Sighs", Thomas Pynchon`s "Against the Day" and an autobiography by Paula Fox.
From Britain book-lovers are awaiting Ian McEwan`s "On Chesil Beach", David Lodge`s "Deaf Sentence" and 2007 Nobel-winner Doris Lessing`s "Alfred and Emily."
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