France’s largest bookstore chain acknowledges Sofi Oksanen

Sofi Oksanen

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The novel Purge by Sofi Oksanen has received yet another accolade. This time, Fnac, France’s largest chain of bookstores, chose Oksanen’s book as its novel of the year.
      “The reception in France has been a positive surprise, especially as French literature is something that is very close to me. I hope that this will awaken broader interest in Finnish literature”, Sofi Oksanen said in an interview with the Finnish News Agency STT.
     
The Fnac prize (Le Prix du Roman Fnac)is being handed out for a ninth time, and this was the first occasion that the winner is a book whose original language was not French.
      Choosing the prize were 500 bookstore employees and 400 members of the public. Members of the panel read 300 books that have appeared, or will soon appear in France this year, 30 of which were chosen for the final.
      “Sofi has every possibility to become a best-selling author in France as well. She has all of the necessary qualities”, says Marie-Pierre Gracedieu, a representative of Stock, Oksanen’s French publisher.
      Gracedieu says that the value of the prize is enhanced by the fact that the choice was made before any rave reviews started to appear in France.
     
Oksanen has previously won the Finlandia and Runeberg prizes for her novel, as well as the literature prize of the Nordic Council. Purge was Finland’s best-selling domestic work of fiction in 2008.
      The French edition of Oksanen’s novel will come out in late August. In addition to France, Fnac has bookstores in several other European countries as well as Brazil and Taiwan.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finlandia Prize goes to Sofi Oksanen and portrait of Estonia under Soviet occupation (5.12.2008)
  WSOY and star author Sofi Oksanen part company (16.6.2010)
  Sofi Oksanen commissioned to write new play for National Theatre (19.5.2010)
  Sofi Oksanen named Person of the Year in Estonia (18.12.2009)

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