Sant Jordi, the 23th of April when Catalonia and its capital celebrates the day of the book ,is the day that 6 million roses and books are sold to the value of 19 million euros, a 10 % of the yearly sales. Spanish and Catalan publishers and booksellers are therefore gritty their books hit the bestseller list and await in tension till the first sales figures are announced.
It soon became clear that this year’s big winner is The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden being the most sold novel in Catalan and the second in Spanish! With this wonderful reception and admiration received by the readers, Jonas Jonasson has achieved to be the most sold author both in 2012 and 2014 with his two novels, The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared and The Girl Who Saved The King Of Sweden.
The novel received lots of attention on both radio and television and almost every newspaper covered the news that the Swedish novel is breaking records. A book stand at the crowded Rambla de Catalunya was totally dedicated to Jonasson’s second novel; a girl was dressed up like Nombeke (wearing earrings in the shape of missiles) together with an actor in a pink suit representing the Hundred Year Old Man Allan. Jonas said that his next chicken will be called “Sant Jordi”.