Each year, with spring, the big summer bestsellers start to bloom. But that's not counting the coronavirus pandemic that affects France and has led to the closure of booksellers. So to all those who have been waiting for the novel by their favorite author for almost a year, we will have to take your trouble patiently. After the cinema, the book is in turn affected and one by one, the publishers announce postponements.
The much awaited "Life is a novel" by Guillaume Musso (Calmann-Lévy) expected in bookstores, however, in several weeks, April 28, has already seen its release shifted. "The time is to organize our lives and be careful above all," comments Philippe Robinet, the editor of the biggest book sellers in France. "We will make the decision to publish the novel on time," he continues.
First hit, the new Joël Dicker "The enigma of room 622" from de Fallois who was due to arrive in bookshops on March 25. Ditto for "Our Resiliences" by Agnès Martin-Lugand scheduled for March 26. "We postpone to May 7 for now!" To see how the situation is evolving… ”, comments his editor Michel Lafon. Expected April 2, Bernard Minier's “The Valley” at XO Éditions is also postponed to an undisclosed date. "No one can predict what will happen and as long as the booksellers are closed, it is impossible to release a novel," says one at XO.
Will those who have fallen through the cracks do better?
Virginie Grimaldi, whose new book was due to arrive on May 6, took up the pen on her Instagram account to announce it herself to her readers: "I am very sad to announce it, but we have made the decision to postpone the release of my next novel. It may be that the country will soon come to a standstill, and that it will be materially impossible to publish new books, but even if that were the case, I could not do it. "
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I am very sad to announce it, but we have made the decision to postpone the release of my next novel. The country may soon come to a halt, and it may be materially impossible to publish new books, but even if that were the case, I could not bring myself to do it. I've been spinning around in my head for days, I know we need distractions, but the human toll that awaits us concerns me more than anything else. I will try to write regularly here, to change your mind. "Dear Granny" may be receiving quite a few cards in the times to come. I kiss you, take care of yourself.
A post shared by Virginie Grimaldi (@virginiegrimaldi) on Mar 16, 2020 at 4:33 am PDT
It remains to be seen whether those who have fallen through the cracks will fare better. Not sure. The novels by Agnes Ledig, “Se le dire dire finally” or Aurélie Valognes “Born under a good star” respectively on sale since February 26 and March 4 were both found in their Top 5 of best selling books (GfK Books Weekly).
But now that they cannot be found in paper version? Admittedly, fans can get a digital version but in France, they are still very modest. The blow is even more severe for Tatiana de Rosnay whose novel "The Flowers of the Shadow" was released on March 12. Two days later, on March 14, bookstores were forced to lower their curtains.
