TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of December 21, 1997

FictionNonfiction
WeekMonth
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1
COLD MOUNTAIN
Charles Frazier
Cover of COLD MOUNTAIN

COLD MOUNTAIN

by Charles Frazier · Atlantic Monthly Press

18 wks at #1 · 24 on list

The impact of the Civil War on lovers. Inman is not the man he used to be, as wounded in battle he slowly makes his way home to North Carolina. His sweetheart, Ada, too has changed, no longer a flighty belle but a hard-working farm woman. Will love be the same?

3
1
THE GHOST
Danielle Steel
Cover of THE GHOST

THE GHOST

by Danielle Steel · Delacorte Press

5 wks on list

After his ten year marriage comes to an abrupt end, Charlie Waterston finds solace traveling through New England and in the pages of the diary of a woman named Sarah who first came to American in 1789. Caught between Sarah's world and his own, Charlie finds the courage to let go of his past, and the freedom to grasp the future that is right before his eyes. National ads, including "People". Online promo (www.daniellesteel.com). Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

5
THE LETTER
Richard Paul Evans
Cover of THE LETTER

THE LETTER

by Richard Paul Evans · Simon & Schuster

8 wks on list

The love story of David and MaryAnne Parkin and the storms that their relationship must face when the blissful state of romance vanishes into real-life challenges and difficulties.

6
8
A CERTAIN JUSTICE
P. D. James
Cover of A CERTAIN JUSTICE
8
1
COMANCHE MOON
Larry McMurtry
Cover of COMANCHE MOON

COMANCHE MOON

by Larry McMurtry · Simon & Schuster

6 wks on list

Two Texas Rangers fight Indians and bandits while trying to sort affairs with their women. One is Gus McCrae, a hard-drinking womanizer jilted by his love, the other is sober Woodrow Call, father of a boy by a prostitute. By the author of Lonesome Dove.

9
4
WOBEGON BOY
Garrison Keillor
Cover of WOBEGON BOY

WOBEGON BOY

by Garrison Keillor · Viking Press

4 wks on list

Garrison Keillor is the consummate storyteller, gifted with the rare ability--both in print and in performance--to hold an audience spellbound with his tales of ordinary people whose lives contain extraordinary moments of humor, tenderness, and grace. This exclusive recording of Garrison Keillor reading a carefully edited abridgement of the book and includes a few segments taken from live performances recorded during a fundraising tour for public radio stations in 1985. 1987 Grammy(R) Award winner Table of Contents Tape 1 Prologue; Home; Forbears; Sumus Quod Sumus; Protestant Tape 2 Protestant; Summer; School Tape 3 Fall; Winter Tape 4 Footnote (95 Theses 95); Spring; Revival

10
NEW
THE WINNER
David Baldacci
Cover of THE WINNER

THE WINNER

by David Baldacci · Warner

1 wks on list

A rags-to-riches deal for single mother LuAnn Tyler is deadlier than she ever could have imagined in The Winner, David Baldacci's pulse-pounding third novel. A New York Times bestseller, it cemented Baldacci as a worldwide bestselling author of non-stop action fiction. With an exclusive new introduction from the author. 'Baldacci is the master' – Jeffrey Archer It's a deadly game . . . LuAnn Tyler is a single parent striving to escape a life of endless poverty. Then a mysterious Mr Jackson makes her an offer he thinks no one can refuse: a guarantee to be the winner of the $100 million lottery. But LuAnn won't do it. Less than twenty-four hours later, she is fighting for her life and running from a false murder charge. Jackson's offer – and its condition that she leave the country forever – seems her only hope. Ten years later, LuAnn secretly returns to the United States to begin a new life with Matthew Riggs, a man whose origins are as murky as her own. But a canny reporter has picked up her trail, as have the FBI – and Jackson. Matt Riggs is the only person who can help her. But is help what Matt intends or is he too closing in for the kill? Perfect for fans of the Atlee Pine and Travis Devine series, The Winner is a novel brimming with suspense-filled roller-coaster action from internationally bestselling author David Baldacci. KILLER TWISTS. HEROES TO BELIEVE IN. TRUST BALDACCI. 'One of the world's thriller masters' – Daily Mail 'Baldacci is still peerless' – Sunday Times 'One of the all-time best thriller authors' – Lisa Gardner, bestselling author of One Step Too Far 'Baldacci delivers, every time!' – Lisa Scottoline, bestselling author of What Happened to the Bennetts 'A master storyteller' – Associated Press 'Baldacci cuts everyone's grass – Grisham's, Ludlum's, even Patricia Cornwell's – and more than gets away with it' – People

11
THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS
Arundhati Roy
Cover of THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS

THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS

by Arundhati Roy · Random House

19 wks on list

The story of an Indian family during the 1969 Communist disturbances in Kerala province. It is told through the eyes of a boy and his sister who are the children of a rich rubber planter. Politics, family drama, illicit love. A debut in fiction.

12
THE CHRISTMAS BOX
Richard Paul Evans
Cover of THE CHRISTMAS BOX

THE CHRISTMAS BOX

by Richard Paul Evans · Simon & Schuster

25 wks on list

Since it was first published, more than seven million people have been touched by the magic of The Christmas Box, a holiday classic that is as beloved in our time as A Christmas Carol was in Dickens's. When Richard Paul Evans wrote The Christmas Box, he intended it as a private expression of love for his two young daughters, Jenna and Allyson. Though he often told them that he loved them, he didn't feel that they could ever really understand the depth of his feelings until they had experienced the joy of rearing their own children, and by that time their relationship would have changed forever. In writing The Christmas Box, he hoped that at some time in the future they would read the book and know of their father's love. As Evans began to write, he was amazed at the inspiration that flowed into his mind and heart. He completed the moving story of a widow and the young family who comes to live with her in less than six weeks, and bound twenty copies to give as Christmas presents to family and friends. In the following weeks, those twenty copies were shared and passed along from family to family, from friend to friend, and what began as a tale for two little girls became a message of miracles, hope, and healing for people throughout the world.

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7
VIOLIN
Anne Rice
Cover of VIOLIN

VIOLIN

by Anne Rice · Knopf

8 wks on list

A woman from New Orleans steals a violin from a ghost and becomes the musician she always wanted, finding herself acclaimed on two continents. Part fantasy, part reality.

15
NEW
LUCKY YOU
Carl Hiaasen
Cover of LUCKY YOU

LUCKY YOU

by Carl Hiaasen · Knopf

JoLayne Luck enlists the help of investigative journalist Tom Krone to chase down Bodean Gazzer and his sidekick Chub, the two men who stole JoLayne's winning lottery ticket in order to set up their own underground militia group in Florida.

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