TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of October 22, 1950

FictionNonfiction
WeekMonth
Jump to
2
THE CARDINAL
Henry Morton Robinson
Cover of THE CARDINAL

THE CARDINAL

by Henry Morton Robinson · Simon & Schuster

29 wks on list

An "absorbing . . . magnificent" novel about an ordinary Irish Catholic man who ascends the church hierarchy to become Cardinal in the early twentieth century. ( Boston Herald) A selection of the Literary Guild, The Cardinal was published in more than a dozen languages and sold over two million copies. Later made into an Academy Award-nominated film directed by Otto Preminger and starring John Huston, the book tells a story that captured the nation's attention: a working-class American's rise to become a cardinal of the Catholic Church. The daily trials and triumphs of Stephen Fermoyle, from the working-class suburbs of Boston, drive him to become first a parish priest, then secretary to a cardinal, later a bishop, and finally a wearer of the Red Hat. An essential work of American fiction that remains even more relevant today. "Extraordinary . . . controversial . . . first rate storytelling and characterization that has enormous appeal." – Kirkus Reviews

4
1
FLOODTIDE
Frank Yerby
Cover of FLOODTIDE

FLOODTIDE

by Frank Yerby · Dial Press

8 wks on list
6
2
OWEN GLEN
Ben Ames Williams

OWEN GLEN

by Ben Ames Williams · Houghton Mifflin

6 wks on list

Miner's son in Ohio in 1890.

8
2
JUBILEE TRAIL
Gwen Bristow
Cover of JUBILEE TRAIL

JUBILEE TRAIL

by Gwen Bristow · Ty Crowell Co

35 wks on list

Sheltered girl from the East makes the dangerous journey from Santa Fe to Los Angeles in pre-Gold Rush days and learns value of loyal friends.

11
1
THE WALL
John Hersey
Cover of THE WALL

THE WALL

by John Hersey · Alfred A. Knopf

33 wks on list

A novel describing the life of the Jews in the Warsaw ghetto during Poland's German occupation.

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