Takis Würger's For Polina at #1 on the Spiegel bestseller list for two weeks, ›Favourite Book of Swiss Booksellers 2025‹, to be published in seven languages 

For Polina by Takis Würger debuted at #1 on the Spiegel bestseller list and held the top spot for two weeks. It now stands at #4 — marking its sixth consecutive week in the top five.

We have sold foreign rights for six languages so far, the latest being Dutch rights to Meulenhoff.

For Polina is also honoured as the ›Favourite Book of Swiss Booksellers 2025‹: It’s quite a feat to be nominated only one week after being published – and making the race. Here’s one quote from a Swiss bookseller, answering the question »why is this book on the shortlist?«:
»Because I haven’t been so touched, thrilled and delighted by any book for a long time! Magnificent, I will recommend and put it into the hands of every single customer.« 

The book was also featured in the eminent Heute Journal on the German public broadcaster ZDF, presented by Claudio Armbruster who summed up:

»Humour, music and love in times of uncertainty. [Takis Würger's] novel For Polina is just good for the soul.«

Here are the most recent press quotes:

»The new novel For Polina by Takis Würger is a narrative joy.«
Erik Lim / Südwestpresse, Ulm

»A fairytale-like, beautiful and shuddersome love story.«
Frank Dietschreit / RBB, Berlin

Rights sold until today:
Albanian (Botart)
Catalan (Les Hores)
Dutch (Meulenhoff)
Estonian (Tänapäev)
Italian (Neri Pozza)
Russian (Azbooka)

Apart from these, we’re reviewing offers for French and Spanish rights. Please let us know if you would like to see our English sample by Katy Derbyshire.

Rabea Weihser’s How We Became so Beautiful is currently at #5 of the ›Best Non-Fiction Titles‹ for the month of April, chosen by the national weekly Die Zeit, radio station Deutschlandfunk Kultur and ZDF. Their verdict: »A comprehensive analysis of why beauty has always been political.«

Furthermore, the book was recommended as one of 10 books on the occasion of the Leipzig Book Fair by the daily Süddeutsche Zeitung: 

»She does that with thoroughness and analytical accuracy, humanism and laconic wit, an absolute delight to read.«
Tanja Rest / Süddeutsche Zeitung, Munich

»This book is an incredibly wise and elegant long essay on conceptions of beauty.« 
Hannah Lühmann / Welt am Sonntag, Berlin

»On this journey through the history of beauty ideals, we also learn whether Cleopatra actually used to bathe in donkey’s milk, and how bright red lips and political resistance are connected.«
Der Tagesspiegel, Berlin

I am pleased to share details about the success of one of our modern classics with you: The new French edition of Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s The Pledge by Gallmeister has already sold 20k copies in its new translation.
 
Here’s one particularly nice quote by the translator Alexandre Pateau about Dürrenmatt’s style:
»These texts by Dürrenmatt are finely chiseled, but there's a powerful foundation, something that moves slowly forward and digs, drills, inexorably. It's as if his texts are carved, like sculptures. The world he describes is dark and full of traps, but he was a humanist who believed in redemption.«

Gallmeister have also recently published Suspicion, The Judge and His Hangman and Traps in new French translations by Alexandre Pateau.

»Christian Schünemann presents a marvellously eccentric and fast-paced book here, which,  although offering a hint of drama, is mostly very funny.«
Stefanie Neuhausen / WDR, Cologne
 
»A multi-faceted family novel in which you get really close to the protagonists.«
Katrin Krämer / NDR, Hamburg
 
»The wait was worth it. Until the Sun Shines is an enchanting family novel, a wise book about the lingering effects of war and dictatorship that extend into the third generation, and a story about daily life in the 1980s, which, when viewed from today, seems like a completely different world.« 
Sabine Zaplin / BR, Munich

Donna Leon's Backstage will be published at the end of May in our edition, the original US edition by Grove/Atlantic is going to follow in August.
 
So far, rights are sold as follows:
English/UK (William Heinemann) 
English/US (Grove /Atlantic) 
Finnish (Otava) 
French (Calmann-Lévy) 
 
A treasure trove of delightful discoveries, and an insightful and inspirational must-have for every fan: in Backstage, Donna Leon grants us a view behind the scenes and lets us in on the sources of her inspiration for her characters. Backstage presents a colorful troupe – the rock genius Frank Zappa, Venice's most famous diamond dealer, a courageous sex worker and women's rights activist, a clever composer, tragic heroes and admired colleagues. In the hands of Donna Leon, these encounters turn into sparkling jewels.