Top 27 Novelists in France
This curated ranking covers the 27 largest novelists in France, ordered by estimated audience size from Rascasse's anonymized search-behavior signals. Marguerite Yourcenar, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Elena Ferrante lead the list with a combined estimated audience of 589,393 people. Across all 27 entries the average audience size is 25,130, and the largest, Marguerite Yourcenar, reaches around 292,222 people in France. Audience size is the estimated number of unique people in France who actively engage with each novelist, derived from search demand signals. Rankings reflect search-behavior signals collected across France and are refreshed weekly.
Ranking
| Rank | Name | Audience size | Country share | Subtype | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Marguerite Yourcenar |
292,222 | 71.4% | Novelist | Literature |
| 2 |  Jean-Jacques Rousseau |
188,857 | 9.5% | Novelist | Politics & Society |
| 3 |  Elena Ferrante |
108,314 | 6.7% | Novelist | Literature |
| 4 |  Herman Melville |
30,364 | 4.3% | Novelist | Literature |
| 5 |  Jonathan Safran Foer |
13,174 | 7.1% | Novelist | Literature |
| 6 |  Raymond Chandler |
11,309 | 2.3% | Novelist | Literature |
| 7 |  Helen Fielding |
7,286 | 2.0% | Novelist | Literature |
| 8 |  Benedict Wells |
4,931 | 1.2% | Novelist | Literature |
| 9 |  Christian Kracht |
4,749 | 1.8% | Novelist | Literature |
| 10 |  J. G. Ballard |
3,090 | 3.3% | Novelist | Literature |
| 11 |  Peter Robinson (novelist) |
2,730 | 1.1% | Novelist | Literature |
| 12 |  Stephen Chbosky |
2,472 | 1.1% | Novelist | Literature |
| 13 |  Jacqueline Carey |
2,208 | 5.8% | Novelist | |
| 14 |  William Makepeace Thackeray |
2,018 | 1.6% | Novelist | Literature |
| 15 |  Emily Giffin |
1,458 | 0.9% | Novelist | Literature |
| 16 |  Vicki Lewis Thompson |
1,146 | 16.4% | Novelist | Literature |
| 17 |  Thea Dorn |
681 | 0.5% | Novelist | Literature |
| 18 |  Uwe Tellkamp |
362 | 0.5% | Novelist | Literature |
| 19 |  Ted Dekker |
299 | 0.2% | Novelist | Literature |
| 20 |  Kat Martin |
240 | 0.4% | Novelist | |
| 21 |  Luanne Rice |
152 | 0.4% | Novelist | |
| 22 |  Beverly Lewis |
108 | 0.3% | Novelist | Literature |
| 23 |  Christie Ridgway |
105 | 4.5% | Novelist | Literature |
| 24 |  Tracie Peterson |
89 | 0.4% | Novelist | Literature |
| 25 |  Robert T. Bakker |
88 | 0.1% | Novelist | Literature |
| 26 |  Terri Blackstock |
55 | 0.1% | Novelist | Literature |
| 27 |  J.A. Redmerski |
19 | 0.7% | Novelist | Literature |
Frequently asked questions
How is this Top 27 list compiled?
Rascasse aggregates anonymized search-behavior signals across France and ranks each novelist by its estimated audience size. Only entries with at least 5 measured entities are listed.
How often is the list updated?
The ranking is refreshed weekly from the latest search-behavior data and re-published as a static page.
What is the largest novelist in France?
Marguerite Yourcenar currently leads with an estimated audience of 292,222 people in France.
Methodology
Audience sizes are estimated from anonymized search-behavior signals across France. Lists below 5 entries are not published. See methodology for full details.