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
4625 The Abyss Fernando Vallejo 2001 Colombian Spanish
4646 You Only Live Twice Ian Fleming 1964 British English
4683 A Horse Walks Into A Bar David Grossman 2014 Israeli Hebrew
4687 The Tiger's Wife Téa Obreht 2011 Serbian English
4756 Home Fire Kamila Shamsie 2017 British English
4787 Sarah, Plain and Tall Patricia MacLachlan 1985 American English
4830 Blaming Elizabeth Taylor 1976 British English
4900 The Gates Ajar Elizabeth Stuart Phelps 1868 American English
4942 Being Dead Jim Crace 1999 British English
4990 Territory Of Light Yuko Tsushima 1979 Japanese Japanese
5026 Deathfeast Takis Sinopoulos 1978 Greek Greek
5033 Honored Guest Joy Williams 2004 American English
5096 Sartoris William Faulkner 1929 American English
5118 Swamplandia! Karen Russell 2011 American English
5124 Cold Sassy Tree Olive Ann Burns 1984 American English
5189 Stay True Hua Hsu 2022 Chinese English
5237 Deep River Shūsaku Endō 1993 Japanese Japanese
5255 Geur der droefenis Alfred Kossmann 1980 Dutch Dutch
5258 Tiny Beautiful Things Cheryl Strayed 2012 American English
5281 At Last Edward St Aubyn 2011 British English
5288 Fields Of Glory Jean Rouaud 1990 French French
5291 Revenge Yōko Ogawa 1998 Japanese Japanese
5305 A Fairy Tale Of New York J. P. Donleavy 1973 Irish English
5393 Lycidas, Comus, And The Minor Poems John Milton 1637 British English
5427 At Night All Blood Is Black David Diop 2018 French French
5462 Giving up the Ghost Hilary Mantel 2003 British English
5569 Everything I Never Told You Celeste Ng 2014 American English
5619 Our Share of Night Mariana Enríquez 2019 Argentinian Spanish
5625 Wave Sonali Deraniyagala 2013 Sri Lankan English
5634 Sabrina Nick Drnaso 2018 American English
5637 Book Lovers Emily Henry 2021 American English
5654 Reasons to Live Amy Hempel 1985 American English
5687 The Constant Gardener John le Carré 2001 British English
5700 The Little Virtues Natalia Ginzburg 1962 Italian Italian
5716 The Twin Gerbrand Bakker 2006 Dutch Dutch
5730 I, The Divine Rabih Alameddine 2001 Lebanese English
5836 Six Tragedies Seneca 54 Roman Latin
5846 Andromache Jean Racine 1667 French French
5858 The New Life Dante Alighieri 1295 Italian Italian
5948 Separate Rooms Pier Vittorio Tondelli 1989 Italian Italian
5963 This Is Happiness Niall Williams 2019 Irish English
5996 The Green Road Anne Enright 2015 Irish English
6258 A Novel About My Wife Emily Perkins 2008 New Zealand English
6275 Owls Do Cry Janet Frame 1957 New Zealand English
6314 Every Man Dies Alone Hans Fallada 1947 German German
6342 Nothing Holds Back The Night Delphine de Vigan 2011 French French
6411 Bluets Maggie Nelson 2009 American English
6460 A Gate at the Stairs Lorrie Moore 2009 American English
6477 Case Histories Kate Atkinson 2004 British English
6491 Neither The Sea Nor The Sand Gordon Honeycombe 1969 British English
6493 Ruth Hall Fanny Fern 1854 American English
6522 Crow Lake Mary Lawson 2002 Canadian English
6533 A Stranger In Olondria Sofia Samatar 2013 American English
6539 Deliver Me From Eva Paul Bailey 2007 British Unknown
6541 Hold Still Sally Mann 2015 American English
6547 The Boarded Window Ambrose Bierce 1891 American English
6584 Mrs. Caliban Rachel Ingalls 1982 American English
6665 Crying In H Mart Michelle Zauner 2021 American English
6695 The Times Are Never So Bad Andre Dubus 1983 American English
6699 The Little Stranger Sarah Waters 2009 British English
6731 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
7175 Wild Cheryl Strayed 2012 American English
7216 Poetry Antònio Ferreira 1558 Portuguese Portuguese
7216 The Spanish Tragedy Thomas Kyd 1587 British English
7216 The Poems Of Thomas Carew Thomas Carew 1640 British English
7216 Odes, Elegies, Sonnets Pierre Ronsard 1550 French French
7216 Oraisons funèbres Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet 1689 French French
7216 On Sepulchres Ugo Foscolo 1809 Italian Italian
7216 The Poems Of Walter Savage Landor Walter Savage Landor 1846 British English
7216 Poems Of Thomas Hood Thomas Hood 1826 British English
7216 Poems And Ballads Algernon Charles Swinburne 1866 British English
7216 Poetical Works Of Robert Bridges Robert Bridges 1912 British English
7216 Poems Of Frederick Goddard Tuckerman Frederick Goddard Tuckerman 1860 American English
7216 Eurydice Jean Anouilh 1941 French French
7585 Verity Colleen Hoover 2018 American English
7632 Telephone Percival Everett 2020 American English
7635 The Big Music Kirsty Gunn 2012 New Zealander English
7685 Among Others Jo Walton 2011 British English
7737 The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel Amy Hempel 2006 American English
7802 Another Brooklyn Jacqueline Woodson 2016 American English
7844 If Only It Were True Marc Levy 1999 French French
7928 Autobiographie De Mon Pere Pierre Pachet 1997 French French
7945 Death In Summer William Trevor 1998 Irish English
8030 Falling Man Don DeLillo 2007 American English
8032 I'll Get There. It Better Be Worth The Trip John Donovan 1969 American English
8065 Remarkably Bright Creatures Shelby Van Pelt 2022 American English
8076 The Blackwater Lightship Colm Toibin 1999 Irish English
8191 The Fisherman John Langan 2016 American English
8231 Frankenstein In Baghdad Ahmed Saadawi 2013 Iraqi Arabic
8238 Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters J. D. Salinger 1963 American English
8240 How The Dead Live Will Self 2000 British English
8268 Before I Let Go Kennedy Ryan 2022 American English
8306 When Death Comes Stealing Valerie Wilson Wesley 1994 American English
8356 Chanda's Secrets Allan Stratton 2004 Canadian English
8388 Our Souls At Night Kent Haruf 2015 American English
8397 The Stag's Leap Sharon Olds 2012 American English
8421 Mary O'grady Mary Lavin 1950 Irish English
8439 The Death of Vivek Oji Akwaeke Emezi 2020 Nigerian English
8494 Paula Isabel Allende 1994 Chilean Spanish
8503 Collected Poems Jane Kenyon 2005 American English
8591 The Promise Damon Galgut 2021 South African English
8632 We All Want Impossible Things Catherine Newman 2022 American English
8675 Collected Poems Wilfred Owen 1963 British English
8688 Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Jonathan Safran Foer 2005 American English
8698 Cry, Heart, But Never Break Glenn Ringtved 2001 Danish Danish
8882 I'll Go To Bed At Noon Gerard Woodward 2004 British English
8923 At The Stone Of Losses T. Carmi 1966 Israeli Hebrew
8939 Memorial Drive Natasha Trethewey 2020 American English
8957 The Vagrants Yiyun Li 2009 American English
8970 The Shack William P. Young 2007 American English
9022 The Fall Of A Sparrow Robert Hellenga 1998 American English
9027 The Other Americans Laila Lalami 2019 Moroccan English
9175 Homeland Fernando Aramburu 2016 Spanish Spanish