The Greatest Books of All Time on Adultery

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
20 Madame Bovary Gustave Flaubert 1857 French French
42 The Red and the Black Stendhal 1830 French French
85 The Good Soldier Ford Madox Ford 1915 British English
196 Lady Chatterley's Lover D. H. Lawrence 1928 British English
287 Jude the Obscure Thomas Hardy 1895 British English
310 Bonfire of the Vanities Tom Wolfe 1987 American English
338 Effi Briest Theodor Fontane 1895 German German
376 The Golden Bowl Henry James 1904 American English
386 La Regenta Clarín 1884 Spanish Spanish
467 A Handful of Dust Evelyn Waugh 1934 British English
469 The Postman Always Rings Twice James M. Cain 1934 American English
504 Her Lover Albert Cohen 1968 Swiss French
555 The Lady with the Dog Anton Chekhov 1899 Russian Russian
622 Elective Affinities Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1809 German German
632 Dom Casmurro Machado de Assis 1899 Brazilian Portuguese
658 Angle of Repose Wallace Stegner 1971 American English
729 Thérèse Desqueyroux François Mauriac 1927 French French
742 The Crime of Father Amaro Eça de Queirós 1875 Portuguese Portuguese
754 If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem William Faulkner 1939 American English
759 Thérèse Raquin Émile Zola 1867 French French
899 Stoner John Williams 1965 American English
977 Couples John Updike 1968 American English
1106 The Heart of the Matter Graham Greene 1948 British English
1152 The Wapshot Chronicle John Cheever 1957 American English
1219 The Time of Indifference Alberto Moravia 1929 Italian Italian
1294 Peyton Place Grace Metalious 1956 American English
1341 The Graduate Charles Webb 1963 American English
1431 Cakes And Ale Or, The Skeleton In The Cupboard W. Somerset Maugham 1930 British English
1472 The Beauty Of The Husband Anne Carson 2001 Canadian English
1547 What Maisie Knew Henry James 1897 American English
1689 Lady Macbeth Of Mtsensk Nikolai Leskov 1865 Russian Russian
1863 Katherine Anya Seton 1954 American English
2063 Girl With Green Eyes Edna O'Brien 1962 Irish English
2192 The Witches Of Eastwick John Updike 1984 American English
2587 Empire Falls Richard Russo 2001 American English
3042 East Lynne Ellen Wood 1861 British English
3162 Natural Novel Georgi Gospodinov 1999 Bulgarian Bulgarian
3180 Flight Behavior Barbara Kingsolver 2012 American English
3323 Confusion Stefan Zweig 1927 Austrian German
3405 Fifty Shades of Grey: E. L. James 2011 British English
3538 Amelia Henry Fielding 1751 British English
4115 Brick Lane Monica Ali 2003 British English
4297 The Emperor's Babe Bernardine Evaristo 2001 British English
4310 Indiana George Sand 1832 French French
4310 The Weather In The Streets Rosamond Lehmann 1936 British English
4543 A New Life Bernard Malamud 1961 American English
4549 Forever Amber Kathleen Winsor 1944 American English
4646 The Blue Room Georges Simenon 1964 French French
4873 Heat and Dust Ruth Prawer Jhabvala 1975 Indian English
5667 Rich Man, Poor Man Irwin Shaw 1969 American English
5894 The Power Of Darkness Leo Tolstoy 1886 Russian Russian
7216 The Storm Aleksandr Ostrovsky 1860 Russian Russian
7753 Another Marvelous Thing Laurie Colwin 1986 American English
7754 Mr. Fox Helen Oyeyemi 2011 British English
7789 Chatham School Affair Thomas Cook 1996 American English
10182 B Utterfield 8 John O'Hara 1935 American English
11214 The Lily Of The Valley Honoré de Balzac 1835 French French
11481 Victory Over Japan Ellen Gilchrist 1984 American English
11663 Roger's Version John Updike 1986 American English
13362 The Red Lily Anatole France 1894 French French
14648 The Woman Thou Gavest Me Hall Caine 1913 British English
15827 Rabbit Angstrom John Updike 1960 American English
15840 The Ill Made Knight T.H. White 1940 British English
15856 Anna Karanina Leo Tolstoy 1873 Russian Russian
17162 The Great Man Kate Christensen 2007 American English
17162 The Nice And The Good Iris Murdoch 1968 British English
17162 Forty Seventeen Frank Moorhouse 1988 Australian English