Skip to content

Eras · The 1940s

1941 in books

Who ruled 1941? James Hilton was Author of the Year on the NYT Hardcover Fiction list. Every #1 bestseller of 1941, the biggest books and the top authors.

NYT Hardcover Fiction

Author of the Year 1941

James Hilton

10 crowns · 28 weeks among the top five authors · Era Power 357

Top authors of 1941
#AuthorEra PowerCrownsTop-five weeks
1James Hilton3571028
2Eric Knight3451427
3A. J. Cronin3231723
4Marguerite Steen220019
5Kenneth Roberts196417
6Ernest Hemingway155213
7Helen McInnes151013
8J. P. Marquand140013
9Ellen Glasgow135011
10Marcus Goodrich103010
Every #1 bestseller of 19417 books reached #1 on the NYT Hardcover Fiction list
First week at #1TitleAuthorWeeks at #1
Jan 6, 1941Oliver WiswellKenneth Roberts4
Jan 20, 1941For Whom the Bell TollsErnest Hemingway2
Feb 17, 1941Random HarvestJames Hilton10
Apr 28, 1941This Above AllEric Knight14
Aug 4, 1941The Keys of the KingdomA. J. Cronin17
Nov 17, 1941Saratoga TrunkEdna Ferber3
Dec 15, 1941WindsweptMary Ellen Chase2
Biggest books of 1941Titles that entered the list in 1941, by Book Power
#TitleAuthorPeakWeeksBook Power
1The Keys of the KingdomA. J. Cronin#131410.3
2Random HarvestJames Hilton#129357.2
3This Above AllEric Knight#127345.4
4The Sun Is My UndoingMarguerite Steen#231328.9
5WindsweptMary Ellen Chase#120248.0
6Saratoga TrunkEdna Ferber#114159.2
7Above SuspicionHelen McInnes#315150.7
8H. M. Pulham, EsquireJ. P. Marquand#213140.5
9In This Our LifeEllen Glasgow#213134.8
10DelilahMarcus Goodrich#311103.3

Author of the Year and the rankings are the ChartReign Power model: the author with the most chart power over the year, not the most #1s. Crowns are weeks crowned Author of the Week. How it works