TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of August 15, 1948

FictionNonfiction
WeekMonth
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3
MELISSA
Taylor Caldwell
Cover of MELISSA

MELISSA

by Taylor Caldwell · Amereon Ltd

6 wks on list

The #1 New York Times–bestselling author's "magnificent" tale of romantic intrigue in the gothic tradition of Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre ( The New York Times). In the eyes of his daughter Melissa, Charles Upjohn can do no wrong. Where others see a minor novelist whose ego far outweighs his talent, Melissa sees a brilliant artist deserving of a wider audience. Where her sister and brother see a cold and inattentive parent who can't provide for his family, Melissa sees a doting father whose intentions are beyond reproach. On his deathbed, Charles puts his eldest daughter in charge of her mother and siblings. Melissa will do anything she can to please him—even if it means marrying a man she hates. As Charles Upjohn's publisher, Geoffrey Dunham holds the keys to the writer's legacy. Dunham also has the means to provide for Melissa and her family, and the desire to do so. Melissa knows her life with Dunham will be grim and passionless, but she's willing to sacrifice her own happiness in order to fulfill her father's wishes. Dunham, however, refuses accept a wife in name only. To win Melissa's heart, he must destroy everything she believes about her father—and herself. A darkly riveting portrait of the thin line between love and hate, Melissa confirms author Taylor Caldwell's reputation as one of the twentieth century's greatest storytellers.

4
2
SHANNON'S WAY
A.J. Cronin
Cover of SHANNON'S WAY

SHANNON'S WAY

by A.J. Cronin · Little, Brown

2 wks on list

Robert Shannon was a devoted scientist on the brink of a medical discovery of great importance. He had no time or inclination for women . . . or for any of the world outside his laboratory. But Jean Law had other plans for him. Strictly brought up by narrow-minded parents, confined by her hospital lectures and her dingy boarding-house, she hardly knew the fires that burned beneath her calm exterior . . . except that they burned for Robert Shannon. She knew she had to have him for herself, and, despite her family’s religious beliefs , their shocked disapproval, and all she had been taught was her destiny, she was determined to fight for him. In the magnificent narrative tradition of The Citadel, The Stars Look Down and Cronin’s other classic novels, Shannon’s Way is a great book by a much-loved author.

7
2
THE GOLDEN HAWK
Frank Yerby
Cover of THE GOLDEN HAWK
8
PEONY
Pearl S. Buck
Cover of PEONY

PEONY

by Pearl S. Buck · Harper

11 wks on list
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1
ASYLUM FOR THE QUEEN
Mildred Jordan

ASYLUM FOR THE QUEEN

by Mildred Jordan · Knopf

9 wks on list

Romantic novel about the Pennsylvania village of Asylum and the part it played in the French Revolution.

11
5
THE MOTH
James M. Cain
Cover of THE MOTH

THE MOTH

by James M. Cain · Knopf

3 wks on list
12
NEW
WOMAN WITH A SWORD
Hollister Noble

WOMAN WITH A SWORD

by Hollister Noble · Doubleday

1 wks on list

A novel about Lincoln advisor, pamphleteer, and lobbyist, Anna Ella Carroll, promoter of the Union cause.

13
LACE CURTAIN
Ellin Berlin

LACE CURTAIN

by Ellin Berlin · Doubleday

2 wks on list

"A distinct advance in professional skill over her first novel, Land I Have Chosen -- and once again a story of marriage, in this case, between Veronica, raised in a family to whom the Catholic Church was inspiration and refuge, and a Protestant, Jamie to whose aristocratic blue-blood background, Catholicism in the United States was outside the pale of social acceptance. Ellin Berlin has achieved a rare balance -- while never decrying the faith which was everything to Veronica, while integrating its traditions, its deals, its observances into the very fibre of her story, she yet leaves one with that in Veronica, the balance of values was weighted against her loyalty to a marriage at times she thought she put first. As a family study -- there again conflicting loyalties inject elements of disunity, and make this quite an extraordinarily penetrating book. The Reardons- "lace curtain Irish"--Are a warm-hearted clan; one likes them despite their intolerances, likes even their prejudices better than those of the Stairs, to whom the Social Register is the ultimate objective of all right-minded Episcopalians. At times the story interest lags; the book is overlong; the tale is told too soon. But it has a holding quality that keeps one reading, never quite losing hope that Veronica will grow just enough beyond the confines of the protection the Church means to her to admit Jamie into the charmed circle of her ultimate faith. The setting- New York and Long Island; the time spans two wars."--Kirkus

14
5
THE FOOLISH GENTLEWOMAN
Margery Sharp
Cover of THE FOOLISH GENTLEWOMAN

THE FOOLISH GENTLEWOMAN

by Margery Sharp · Little, Brown

9 wks on list

Duchess Theatre, licensed by the Lord Chamberlain to Marianne Davis, Sybil Thorndike and Lewis Casson in "The Foolish Gentlewoman" by Margery Sharp, with Mary Merrall, directed by Michael Macowan, decor by Richard Lake.

15
NEW
CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY
Alan Paton
Cover of CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY

CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY

by Alan Paton · Scribner

15 wks on list

Two fathers come to terms with personal loss and the emotional scars inflicted on South Africa during the era of apartheid.

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