In the two bookshops in Bussum you can pick them out this Saturday: the buyers of Atlas, the eighth and final part of the Seven Sisters series by British author Lucinda Riley. With one exception, they all walk decisively into the store, head straight for the stack of translated Rileys, pick up a copy of the thick book, and proceed to the cash register to pay.
Atlas. The Story of Pa Salt, as the book is fully called, was released last Thursday and was already a bestseller one day after publication. The book answers the question who is the mysterious adoptive father of the seven sisters who are the subject of the first seven parts. The book was written off by Riley’s son, Harry Whitaker, after Riley died of cancer last year.
According to the publisher, it would have sold between 100,000 and 150,000 copies before the weekend. Whether this sets an absolute record will be known on Friday when the final weekly sales figures are published. But it is also clear that the book is selling well in Bussum in Gooise.
Owner Gerda Liebe of the Bruna on the Veerplein agrees that the book is going “like a train”. The bookstore has purchased 175 copies of Atlas for this Saturday. Before the doors close on Saturday, Liebe thinks she will be through that stock. “It’s a nice boost in sales.”
Expensive book
A block away, at the Los bookstore, a large part of the shop window has been given over to copies of Atlas, in Dutch and English, just like Bruna’s. In the store, customers can come across the book in several places: right at the entrance next to other bestsellers such as the book by Libris Literature Prize winner Anjet Daanje (The song of the stork and the dromedary). But also at the checkout and on a large display in the middle of the bookshop.
But my husband gave me his card and said: go get it before Mother’s Day
Kim from Bussum
Owner Mascha Sluijter thinks she has sold up to a hundred copies a day so far. “We had ordered 250 in advance. An additional 150 were delivered this morning. That was hardly – the last copy we had left was, so to speak, just paid for.” Like her Bruna colleague, Sluijter says that her bookstore could use such a thriving book. “It has been a tame financial year so far without any real outliers.”
It is striking that hardly any customer is stopped by the high price of the Riley book: 29.99 euros. This makes Atlas considerably more expensive than most new books, which cost between 22.50 and 25 euros. Sluijter: “I don’t hear many people complain about it. People just want the book, the publisher is of course aware of that.”
That certainly applies to Inge van den Berg, who buys her copy from Bruna. “At 30 euros it is indeed quite pricey, especially for someone like me: I have social assistance benefits. But I thought, I deserve it. I just had cataract surgery.” Van den Berg has all listened to the previous parts via Storytel. “I have to train my eyes to focus because of the operation. That’s why I’m reading the book this time.”
Sluijter of the Los bookstore has only read the first part himself
Kim from Bussum, who is shopping with her daughter, also bought her copy in Bruna. “I was shocked at the price, yes. But yes, I still wanted the book.” She did pay for the book with her husband’s debit card. “I was hoping he would give the book for my birthday this week. Well not so. But he gave me his card and said: go get it for Mother’s Day.”
Floral wrapping paper
The fact that Atlas was released for the Mother’s Day weekend is no coincidence, according to Gerda Liebe van de Bruna. “That was cleverly thought out by the publisher,” she says between serving the long queue of customers in the stationery store. She barely has time to speak to the reporter, partly because many purchases are also wrapped in floral wrapping paper.
Read also: The seven sisters continue
In Liebe’s store, Atlas is the most sold gift people buy for Mother’s Day – next to magazine packs and cards. Atlas is also one of the bestsellers in the Los bookstore, in addition to Daanje’s book and the latest Roxane van Iperen (I promise).
Lenneke Gons has all those books in her arms in Los, while she talks to the owner. She says that she is going on holiday on Terschelling for a month – which is why she is also picking up the latest thriller by Mathijs Deen that plays on the Wadden Island (The Diver). It is no coincidence that Gons Los has so many sales: it turns out that she owned the bookshop together with her husband until last year.
“When we had the store, we never went on holiday for so long. Our spring break when we owned was usually two weeks. And then we both picked out a box of books – for our work. Now we read what we feel like.”
Also read this interview with Lucinda Riley: “I don’t want to write literary fiction that will be read by 2,500 people, but by everyone.”
And yes, that includes Riley’s books. “I have now read three volumes of Riley. Not when I still owned the shop. That was not necessary, the books sold themselves. Dan preferred to spend my scarce reading time on books that do need a little push. But when I started it last year, I immediately understood it from all those customers: they are fantastic books.”
Lots of special things
There is regular discussion about the literary value of the book series. Marga Copier also mentions this, who is visiting her mother from Sweden and is buying Atlas for her. For her birthday and Mother’s Day. “Although I’m probably going to read it right after her. You can’t say it’s a pinnacle of literature. But that is not necessary. Why are they such good books? The fact that they are sequels makes us curious. Many special things happen. And is set in different countries – the sisters who the books are about are adopted from all different countries.”
Sluijter van Los himself has only read the first part. “I thought I should have done that as the owner. I left it at that – I have to divide my time. But I get that people get hooked on it. It’s beautifully written and gripping. It cannot be the case that a writer who sells so well writes badly.”