Tóibín tops Man Booker shortlist sales

14.10.13 | Joshua Farrington and Philip Stone - The Bookseller

Colm Tóibín’s The Testament of Mary (Viking) has proved the most popular of the Man Booker Prize’s shortlisted titles since the shortlist announcement in September.

The novel has sold 8,300 copies since the shortlist reveal, well ahead of Ruth Ozeki’s A Tale for the Time Being (Canongate) at 4,990 copies; Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Lowland (Bloomsbury) at 3,010; and Eleanor Catton’s The Luminaries (Granta) at 2,970. 

Bookies’ favourite Harvest by Jim Crace (Picador) has sold 2,490 copies since his book was shortlisted, and NoViolet Bulawayo’s We Need New Names (Chatto) has sold 1,720 units.
Altogether, the six shortlisted books have sold 23,500 copies since the announcement, down 30% year on year from last year’s shortlist.

Rory Hill, a bookseller at Norwich’s The Book Hive, said: “We have all the shortlisted books out but we haven’t seen them sell like last year’s, when people were buying the whole list—some have only sold a couple of copies.” 
He added: “The one with the most interest [for our customers] has been Eleanor Catton’s The Luminaries. I think if that won it would have a lot of impact, and could do very well.”

Emma Smith, a bookseller at Mr B’s Emporium in Bath, agreed: “The Luminaries has probably been the most popular. I think if it won it would have a broader commercial appeal —it is similar to Wolf Hall in a sense, a big historical tome.”

Simon Key at the Big Green Bookshop in north London runs an annual Man Booker club, where customers can rent all the books for £25 and then keep their favourite. He said: “The one that people are keen to get hold of has been Harvest. We don’t often stock hardback fiction, so the Booker is a good chance for us to do that.”

The winner will be announced tomorrow (15th October), with the £50,000 award presented by the Duchess of Cornwall.

The Man Booker shortlist reviewed.

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