TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of April 20, 1936

FictionNonfiction
WeekMonth
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1
THE LAST PURITAN
George Santayana
Cover of THE LAST PURITAN

THE LAST PURITAN

by George Santayana · Scribner

11 wks at #1 · 11 on list
2
THE THINKING REED
Rebecca West

THE THINKING REED

by Rebecca West · Viking Press

6 wks on list

"Isabelle, a wealthy American widow, arrives in France to restart her life and discovers she has her choice of eligible suitors. Torn between a placid liaison with a southerner and a tortuous affair with a Frenchman, Isabelle's plans suddenly take an unexpected turn that will ultimately lead her to a love that will force her to reconsider the implications of her affluent existence.

3
1
IT CAN'T HAPPEN HERE
Sinclair Lewis
Cover of IT CAN'T HAPPEN HERE

IT CAN'T HAPPEN HERE

by Sinclair Lewis · Doubleday, Doran

26 wks on list

A dark satire about the rise of a fascist American dictator.

4
NEW
SPARKENBROKE
Charles Morgan
Cover of SPARKENBROKE

SPARKENBROKE

by Charles Morgan · Macmillan

1 wks on list

The story of Piers Tenniel, Lord Sparkenbroke, poet and man of letters, and his short, extraordinarily intense life and great love.

6
NEW
GAUDY NIGHT
Dorothy L. Sayers
Cover of GAUDY NIGHT

GAUDY NIGHT

by Dorothy L. Sayers · Harcourt, Brace

When the dons of Harriet Vane's alma mater, the all-female Shrewsbury College, Oxford, invite her back to attend the annual Gaudy celebrations, the mood turns sour when someone begins a series of malicious acts. Who is responsible for the poison-pen messages, obscene graffiti, and wanton vandalism? Harriet asks her old friend Lord Peter Wimsey to investigate.

Historical bestseller data sourced from the New York Times Book Review, archived by Hawes Publications.