TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of August 17, 1952

FictionNonfiction
WeekMonth
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1
THE CAINE MUTINY
Herman Wouk
Cover of THE CAINE MUTINY

THE CAINE MUTINY

by Herman Wouk · Doubleday

48 wks at #1 · 70 on list

Each decade new readers discover the characters and curious activities aboard the U.S.S. "Caine in this classic tale of pathos, humor, and scope.

2
4
THE SILVER CHALICE
Thomas B. Costain
Cover of THE SILVER CHALICE

THE SILVER CHALICE

by Thomas B. Costain · Doubleday and Company, Inc

3 wks on list

"This novel [is] based on legends of the years following Christ's crucifixion. [It] describes the life of Basil, the artisan who fashioned the silver chalice, a frame meant to hold the ... cup from which Christ drank at the Last Supper"--Fiction catalog.

6
2
THE GOWN OF GLORY
Agnes Sligh Turnbull
Cover of THE GOWN OF GLORY

THE GOWN OF GLORY

by Agnes Sligh Turnbull · Houghton Mifflin

20 wks on list

Activities of the 25th year of a Presbyterian country preacher and his family.

8
1
THE CRUEL SEA
Nicholas Monsarrat
Cover of THE CRUEL SEA

THE CRUEL SEA

by Nicholas Monsarrat · Alfred A. Knopf

53 wks on list

Based on the author's own experiences, this book presents the story of the crew of HMS Compass Rose, a corvette assigned to protect convoys in World War Two. It offers descriptions of agonizing U-boat hunts. It tells of ordinary, heroic men who had to face a brutal menace which would strike without warning from the deep.

9
2
THE GOLDEN HAND
Edith Simon

THE GOLDEN HAND

by Edith Simon · Putnam

14 wks on list

A Cathedral is built in 14th-century England, in honor of a miracle.

13
NEW
LAMENT FOR FOUR VIRGINS
Lael Tucker

LAMENT FOR FOUR VIRGINS

by Lael Tucker · Random House

1 wks on list

There are four of them--the darling daughters of the best families in town--all young, all restless, all dying for a big romance. They sip their Cokes hopefully, they pump each other carefully, they whip their cars ostentatiously through the streets of Andalusia, Ga ... The first part of Lament for Four Virgins is a tongue-in-cheek report of what happens when one defenseless minister [Barbee] is besieged by four determined virgins, backed up by four determined mothers ... Serious Turn. Alas, Rector Barbee is by no means equal to the chase. He flees to a parish in Montana, and with Barbee gone, Lament for Four Virgins turns pretty serious. Author Tucker traces the careers of her four girls into middle age--Angela into a late, dreary marriage, Ellen Terra into sloppy promiscuity, Hope into money and dipsomania, and crippled Carrie into a solid romance with her doctor. The post-Barbee era is readable enough, but it lacks the spirit of the old days. --Time 7/14/1952.

14
1
SCALPEL
Horace McCoy

SCALPEL

by Horace McCoy · Appleton-Century-Crofts

5 wks on list

Tom Owen, an ex-miner from Coalville, Pennsylvania, becomes a successful surgeon In Pittsburgh. He must choose between two women and consequently, two lifestyles.

15
NEW
S P Q R
Paul Hyde Bonner

S P Q R

by Paul Hyde Bonner · Scribner

17 wks on list
16
NEW
THE SHINING TIDES
Win Brooks

THE SHINING TIDES

by Win Brooks · William Morrow and Company

Cape Cod and the striped bass, whose comings and goings have a lot to do with the lives of some of the inhabitants.

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