The Greatest Books of All Time on Grief

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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
4624 The Abyss Fernando Vallejo 2001 Colombian Spanish
4645 You Only Live Twice Ian Fleming 1964 British English
4682 A Horse Walks Into A Bar David Grossman 2014 Israeli Hebrew
4686 The Tiger's Wife Téa Obreht 2011 Serbian English
4755 Home Fire Kamila Shamsie 2017 British English
4786 Sarah, Plain and Tall Patricia MacLachlan 1985 American English
4829 Blaming Elizabeth Taylor 1976 British English
4899 The Gates Ajar Elizabeth Stuart Phelps 1868 American English
4940 Being Dead Jim Crace 1999 British English
4987 Territory Of Light Yuko Tsushima 1979 Japanese Japanese
5023 Deathfeast Takis Sinopoulos 1978 Greek Greek
5030 Honored Guest Joy Williams 2004 American English
5094 Sartoris William Faulkner 1929 American English
5116 Swamplandia! Karen Russell 2011 American English
5122 Cold Sassy Tree Olive Ann Burns 1984 American English
5187 Stay True Hua Hsu 2022 Chinese English
5236 Deep River Shūsaku Endō 1993 Japanese Japanese
5254 Geur der droefenis Alfred Kossmann 1980 Dutch Dutch
5257 Tiny Beautiful Things Cheryl Strayed 2012 American English
5280 At Last Edward St Aubyn 2011 British English
5287 Fields Of Glory Jean Rouaud 1990 French French
5290 Revenge Yōko Ogawa 1998 Japanese Japanese
5304 A Fairy Tale Of New York J. P. Donleavy 1973 Irish English
5391 Lycidas, Comus, And The Minor Poems John Milton 1637 British English
5425 At Night All Blood Is Black David Diop 2018 French French
5460 Giving up the Ghost Hilary Mantel 2003 British English
5567 Everything I Never Told You Celeste Ng 2014 American English
5616 Our Share of Night Mariana Enríquez 2019 Argentinian Spanish
5622 Wave Sonali Deraniyagala 2013 Sri Lankan English
5631 Sabrina Nick Drnaso 2018 American English
5634 Book Lovers Emily Henry 2021 American English
5651 Reasons to Live Amy Hempel 1985 American English
5684 The Constant Gardener John le Carré 2001 British English
5697 The Little Virtues Natalia Ginzburg 1962 Italian Italian
5713 The Twin Gerbrand Bakker 2006 Dutch Dutch
5727 I, The Divine Rabih Alameddine 2001 Lebanese English
5833 Six Tragedies Seneca 54 Roman Latin
5843 Andromache Jean Racine 1667 French French
5855 The New Life Dante Alighieri 1295 Italian Italian
5945 Separate Rooms Pier Vittorio Tondelli 1989 Italian Italian
5960 This Is Happiness Niall Williams 2019 Irish English
5993 The Green Road Anne Enright 2015 Irish English
6255 A Novel About My Wife Emily Perkins 2008 New Zealand English
6272 Owls Do Cry Janet Frame 1957 New Zealand English
6311 Every Man Dies Alone Hans Fallada 1947 German German
6339 Nothing Holds Back The Night Delphine de Vigan 2011 French French
6408 Bluets Maggie Nelson 2009 American English
6458 A Gate at the Stairs Lorrie Moore 2009 American English
6475 Case Histories Kate Atkinson 2004 British English
6489 Neither The Sea Nor The Sand Gordon Honeycombe 1969 British English
6491 Ruth Hall Fanny Fern 1854 American English
6520 Crow Lake Mary Lawson 2002 Canadian English
6531 A Stranger In Olondria Sofia Samatar 2013 American English
6537 Deliver Me From Eva Paul Bailey 2007 British Unknown
6539 Hold Still Sally Mann 2015 American English
6545 The Boarded Window Ambrose Bierce 1891 American English
6582 Mrs. Caliban Rachel Ingalls 1982 American English
6664 Crying In H Mart Michelle Zauner 2021 American English
6694 The Times Are Never So Bad Andre Dubus 1983 American English
6698 The Little Stranger Sarah Waters 2009 British English
6730 The Afterlife Donald Antrim 2006 American English
6836 We are All Completely Beside Ourselves Karen Joy Fowler 2013 American English
7025 Precarious Life Judith Butler 2004 American English
7080 The Blazing World Siri Hustvedt 2014 American English
7122 Margot en de engelen Kristien Hemmerechts 1997 Belgian Dutch
7137 Bury Your Dead Louise Penny 2010 Canadian English
7142 Hello Beautiful Ann Napolitano 2023 American English
7151 The Shawl Cynthia Ozick 1989 American English
7174 Wild Cheryl Strayed 2012 American English
7215 Poetry Antònio Ferreira 1558 Portuguese Portuguese
7215 The Spanish Tragedy Thomas Kyd 1587 British English
7215 The Poems Of Thomas Carew Thomas Carew 1640 British English
7215 Odes, Elegies, Sonnets Pierre Ronsard 1550 French French
7215 Oraisons funèbres Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet 1689 French French
7215 On Sepulchres Ugo Foscolo 1809 Italian Italian
7215 The Poems Of Walter Savage Landor Walter Savage Landor 1846 British English
7215 Poems Of Thomas Hood Thomas Hood 1826 British English
7215 Poems And Ballads Algernon Charles Swinburne 1866 British English
7215 Poetical Works Of Robert Bridges Robert Bridges 1912 British English
7215 Poems Of Frederick Goddard Tuckerman Frederick Goddard Tuckerman 1860 American English
7215 Eurydice Jean Anouilh 1941 French French
7584 Verity Colleen Hoover 2018 American English
7631 Telephone Percival Everett 2020 American English
7634 The Big Music Kirsty Gunn 2012 New Zealander English
7684 Among Others Jo Walton 2011 British English
7736 The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel Amy Hempel 2006 American English
7801 Another Brooklyn Jacqueline Woodson 2016 American English
7843 If Only It Were True Marc Levy 1999 French French
7927 Autobiographie De Mon Pere Pierre Pachet 1997 French French
7944 Death In Summer William Trevor 1998 Irish English
8029 Falling Man Don DeLillo 2007 American English
8031 I'll Get There. It Better Be Worth The Trip John Donovan 1969 American English
8064 Remarkably Bright Creatures Shelby Van Pelt 2022 American English
8075 The Blackwater Lightship Colm Toibin 1999 Irish English
8189 The Fisherman John Langan 2016 American English
8229 Frankenstein In Baghdad Ahmed Saadawi 2013 Iraqi Arabic
8236 Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters J. D. Salinger 1963 American English
8238 How The Dead Live Will Self 2000 British English
8266 Before I Let Go Kennedy Ryan 2022 American English
8304 When Death Comes Stealing Valerie Wilson Wesley 1994 American English
8354 Chanda's Secrets Allan Stratton 2004 Canadian English
8386 Our Souls At Night Kent Haruf 2015 American English
8395 The Stag's Leap Sharon Olds 2012 American English
8419 Mary O'grady Mary Lavin 1950 Irish English
8437 The Death of Vivek Oji Akwaeke Emezi 2020 Nigerian English
8492 Paula Isabel Allende 1994 Chilean Spanish
8501 Collected Poems Jane Kenyon 2005 American English
8589 The Promise Damon Galgut 2021 South African English
8630 We All Want Impossible Things Catherine Newman 2022 American English
8673 Collected Poems Wilfred Owen 1963 British English
8686 Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Jonathan Safran Foer 2005 American English
8696 Cry, Heart, But Never Break Glenn Ringtved 2001 Danish Danish
8880 I'll Go To Bed At Noon Gerard Woodward 2004 British English
8921 At The Stone Of Losses T. Carmi 1966 Israeli Hebrew
8937 Memorial Drive Natasha Trethewey 2020 American English
8955 The Vagrants Yiyun Li 2009 American English
8968 The Shack William P. Young 2007 American English
9020 The Fall Of A Sparrow Robert Hellenga 1998 American English
9025 The Other Americans Laila Lalami 2019 Moroccan English
9174 Homeland Fernando Aramburu 2016 Spanish Spanish