The Greatest Books of All Time on Heartbreak

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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
282 The Sorrows of Young Werther Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1774 German German
1061 First Love Ivan Turgenev 1860 Russian Russian
1472 The Beauty Of The Husband Anne Carson 2001 Canadian English
1473 What We Talk About When We Talk About Love Raymond Carver 1981 American English
2186 On Love Alain de Botton 1993 British English
2456 By Grand Central Station I Sat Down And Wept Elizabeth Smart 1945 Canadian English
2694 Waiting to Exhale Terry McMillan 1992 American English
2999 A Cloud In Trousers Vladimir Mayakovsky 1915 Russian Russian
3252 Endless Love Scott Spencer 1979 American English
3292 Bérénice Jean Racine 1670 French French
3581 Call Me By Your Name André Aciman 2007 Italian English
3587 The Complete Writings of Alfred de Musset Alfred de Musset 1907 French French
3600 Daisy Jones & The Six Taylor Jenkins Reid 2019 American English
4310 Love For Lydia H. E. Bates 1952 British English
4630 Heartburn Nora Ephron 1983 American English
5301 The Museum Of Innocence Orhan Pamuk 2008 Turkish Turkish
5844 A Month In The Country Ivan Turgenev 1855 Russian Russian
5863 Twenty Love Poems And A Song Of Despair Pablo Neruda 1924 Chilean Spanish
6005 Sonnets Louise Labé 1556 French French
6841 Rapture Carol Ann Duffy 2005 British English
7216 Rime Gaspara Stampa 1554 Italian Italian
7216 La Dorotea Lope de Vega 1632 Spanish Spanish
7216 Astrophel And Stella Philip Sidney 1591 British English
7216 Complete Poems Of Alfred De Musset Alfred de Musset 1857 French French
7216 On Love Stendhal 1822 French French
7216 Retreat From Love Colette 1936 French French
8990 Less Andrew Sean Greer 2017 American English
9540 Two Cures For Love Wendy Cope 2008 British English
9644 All Your Perfects Colleen Hoover 2018 American English
11366 La Fin D'amor Jean-Claude Marol French Unknown
12027 Girls In Tears Jacqueline Wilson 2002 British English
12741 Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me Mariko Tamaki, illustrated Rosemary Valero-O’Connell 2019 Canadian English
14232 This Is How You Lose Her Junot Diaz 2012 American English
14399 Writers & Lovers Lily King 2020 American English
14834 Listen To The Warm Rod McKuen 1967 American English
14985 Complete Stories Dorothy Parker 1995 American English
15916 At Grand Central Station I Sat Down And Wept Elizabeth Smart 1945 Canadian English
16576 Letter From An Unknown Woman Stefan Zweig 1922 Austrian German
17162 Milk And Honey & The Sun And Her Flowers By Rupi Kaur 2 Books Collection Set Rupi Kaur 2014 Canadian English
17162 I Hope This Reaches Her In Time r.h. Sin 2017 American English
17162 She Fits Inside These Words r.h. Sin, Robert M. Drake, Samantha King Holmes 2021 American English
17162 I Would Leave Me If I Could Halsey 2020 American English
17162 She Felt Like Feeling Nothing r.h. Sin 2018 American English
17162 Empty Bottles Full Of Stories r.h. Sin, Robert M. Drake 2019 American English
17162 Love Her Wild Atticus 2017 Canadian English
17162 The Feast Of Love Charles Baxter 2000 American English
17162 Cowboys Are My Weakness Pam Houston 1992 American English
17162 The Love Object Edna O'Brien 2013 Irish English
17162 Poems Of Sextus Propertius Propertius -29 Roman Latin
17162 The Ten Loves Of Nishino Hiromi Kawakami 2003 Japanese Japanese