Fifty Shades pips Harry Potter to become UK's best seller

EL James's erotic novel may have been derided by critics for "appalling writing" and by Barbara Taylor Bradford for its "boring" sex scenes, but that has not stopped women snapping up the tale of a virginal heroine who falls for a bondage-loving billionaire.

Random House, the publisher, said the book is now more popular than ‘The Highway Code'.

The 5.3 million figure comprises 3.8 million physical books and 1.5 million ebooks, the Telegraph reported.

In terms of printed books, ‘Fifty Shades of Grey' has yet to catch up with ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,' which sold over 4 million copies in the UK.

Harry Potter figures were based on print sales alone, as the series was not available in digital format when they were first published.
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