TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of November 1, 1981

FictionNonfiction
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8
GORKY PARK
Martin Cruz Smith
Cover of GORKY PARK

GORKY PARK

by Martin Cruz Smith · Random House

30 wks on list

A triple murder in a Moscow amusement center: three corpses found frozen in the snow, faces and fingers missing. Chief homicide investigator Arkady Renko is brilliant, sensitive, honest, and cynical about everything except his profession. To identify the victims and uncover the truth, he must battle the KGB, FBI, and the New York City police as he pursues a rich, ruthless, and well-connected American fur dealer. Meanwhile, Renko is falling in love with a beautiful, headstrong dissident for whom he may risk everything. -- Book Description.

10
1
RABBIT IS RICH
John Updike
Cover of RABBIT IS RICH

RABBIT IS RICH

by John Updike · Knopf

2 wks on list

It's 1979 and Rabbit is no longer running. He's walking, and beginning to get out of breath. That's OK, though - it gives him the chance to enjoy the wealth that comes with middle age. It's all in place: he's Chief Sales Representative and co-owner of Springer motors; his wife, at home or in the club, is keeping trim; he wears good suits, and the cash is pouring in. So why is it that he finds it so hard to accept the way that things have turned out? And why, when he looks at his family, is he haunted by regrets about all those lives he'll never live?

11
BREAD UPON THE WATERS
Irwin Shaw
Cover of BREAD UPON THE WATERS

BREAD UPON THE WATERS

by Irwin Shaw · Delacorte Press

6 wks on list

With one act of kindness, the fate of a Manhattan family is forever altered in this New York Times–bestselling novel by the author of Rich Man, Poor Man. The Strands are a happy family, save for the occasional financial struggle. Allen, the father, has a decent job as a schoolteacher, a lovely wife, and smart, ambitious, and compassionate children. When Allen’s daughter witnesses a mugging, she takes the victim back to the Strand home for help and a warm meal. The Strands have no clue that the man they are helping is Russell Hazen, a powerful and wealthy Wall Street lawyer. In his gratitude, Hazen offers gifts, vacations, networking opportunities—even plastic surgery. But with each reward comes baggage, and soon the Strands begin to lose sight of what matters most in life. Bread Upon the Waters is a masterful story about the way lives interconnect, and how every good deed, no matter how selfless, comes with a price. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Irwin Shaw including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author’s estate.

12
NEW
REMEMBRANCE
Danielle Steel
Cover of REMEMBRANCE

REMEMBRANCE

by Danielle Steel · Delacorte Press

1 wks on list

THE WORLD'S FAVOURITE AUTHOR ONE BILLION COPIES SOLD The last thing she was looking for was love . . . Serena was almost too beautiful. Yet behind her aristocratic face there was something hurt, something closed. When she went back to the family palace in Rome after the Second World War she was searching for a shining fragment of the past to hold her heart. The last thing she was looking for was love. But the past was about to vanish for ever, consumed in love so complete it made Serena dissolve with passion in the warm Italian night. All she had treasured before had been taken from her - would it last this time? Or would the priceless promise of love for a lifetime live only in the bittersweet heartbreak of remembrance? An epic and romantic tale from one of the best-loved writers of all time. Perfect for fans of Penny Vincenzi, Lucinda Riley and Maeve Binchy PRAISE FOR DANIELLE STEEL: 'Emotional and gripping . . . I was left in no doubt as to the reasons behind Steel's multi-million sales around the world' DAILY MAIL 'Danielle Steel is undeniably an expert' NEW YORK TIMES

14
NEW
LUCIANO'S LUCK
Jack Higgins
Cover of LUCIANO'S LUCK

LUCIANO'S LUCK

by Jack Higgins · Stein and Day

8 wks on list

In Nazi-occupied Sicily, three people have a mission--to contact the head of the Sicilian Mafia and pave the way for the Allied invasion of Sicily.

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