Sally Rooney's Beautiful World, Where Are You finds the top spot

Sally Rooney's Beautiful World, Where Are You (Faber) has debuted in the UK Official Top 50 number one spot, selling 46,065 copies in its first week on sale.

This makes it the fastest-selling Adult Fiction title since sales figures returned to BookScan in mid-March, post-lockdown, and Rooney's second title to go to the overall top spot. During the first lockdown in spring 2020, the BBC adaptation of Normal People became such a huge hit that it pushed the 2019 paperback into the number one spot for the first time.

Beautiful World, Where Are You also claimed the Original Fiction number one, leapfrogging Paula Hawkins' A Slow Fire Burning (Doubleday) after just one week. After Normal People's six-week stretch in the category top spot, Beautiful World, Where Are You scores Rooney's seventh week atop the chart.

Waterstones' Bea Carvalho said, “After only one week, Sally Rooney’s Beautiful World, Where Are You is Waterstones’ bestselling Fiction hardback of the whole year, and sales are up on the first week for Normal People by over 950%.  This third novel will boost Rooney’s reputation as the voice of a generation and one of the most exciting writers at work today: it is essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary fiction and we are thrilled to finally be able to share it with our customers.”

Faber publisher Alex Bowler said, "It's beautiful and it's jaw-dropping -- a testament to the deep and electric connection so many readers find in Sally's work, and to the dedication, support and utterly awe-inspiring efforts of booksellers all over Ireland, the UK and overseas. We are so lucky to work with friends like these."

Jay Kristoff's Empire of the Vampire (HarperCollins) sank its fangs into second place to Rooney in both the Top 50 and the Original Fiction chart, selling 15,209 copies.

Susanna Clarke's Piranesi (Bloomsbury) jumped 106% in sales for the week its Women's Prize 2021 win was announced, climbing 12 places up the Top 50 to sixth and scoring third in Mass-Market Fiction. Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club (Penguin) held firm in the top spot as Linwood Barclay's Find You First (HQ) jumped to second place.

Jamie Oliver's Together (Michael Joseph) held the Hardback Non-Fiction number one, as Ben Lebus' Comfort MOB (Hodder & Stoughton) zipped into second place.

The Official Highway Code (TSO) returned to the top of the Paperback Non-Fiction top 20, as textbooks and GCSE-set texts flooded into the chart. Similarly, the Children's charts had a decidedly back-to-school vibe, with J B Priestley's An Inspector Calls (Heinemann) returning in the number one spot. 

The print market fell marginally in volume last week, by 1.3% week on week to 3.7 million books, yet rose in value by 2.8% to £33.4m. The average selling price (asp) jumped by 36p, no doubt helped by Beautiful World, Where Are You's £13.39 asp.

Rooney also swiped the Amazon Charts' Most-Sold: Fiction top spot this week.