Laura Brodie’s Book Surprise Hit in Germany, Possible Movie
“The Widow’s Season,” by Laura Brodie, visiting assistant professor of English at Washington and Lee University, has become a surprise hit in Germany. The book, which prominently features places around W&L and Lexington, was published by Berkley Books (part of Penguin Books) in 2009.
A German translation was published in the summer of 2010 and has since become a surprise hit, reaching number 11 on Der Speigel’s bestseller list (the German equivalent of the New York Times’ bestseller list). It stayed on the list for 24 weeks. Word of mouth among independent booksellers, combined with strong magazine and blog reviews, helped to make the book a success. This past summer, a new, mass market edition in German was published and it too reached the bestsellers list. To date, the German version of “The Widow’s Season” has sold over 120,000 copies.
An independent German film company has purchased the film rights to the book and negotiations are underway for a movie to begin production in 2012. “We have our fingers crossed that the movie deal will come through, but nothing is certain until everyone signs on the bottom line,” said Brodie.
Brodie’s third novel, “All the Truth,” is also set in Lexington and features a college similar to Washington and Lee. It will be published in both German and English in 2012.
For further details about “The Widow’s Season”: http://www.amazon.com/Widows-Season-Laura-Brodie/dp/0425227650
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