The Greatest Books of All Time on Inheritance

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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
90 Buddenbrooks Thomas Mann 1901 German German
121 Bleak House Charles Dickens 1852 British English
131 King Lear William Shakespeare 1608 British English
134 Tom Jones Henry Fielding 1749 British English
164 The Hound of the Baskervilles Arthur Conan Doyle 1902 British English
180 On the Origin of Species Charles Darwin 1859 British English
193 East of Eden John Steinbeck 1952 American English
198 Howards End E. M. Forster 1910 British English
246 The Forsyte Saga John Galsworthy 1906 British English
261 Wings of the Dove Henry James 1902 American English
346 The Castle of Otranto Horace Walpole 1764 British English
393 The Moonstone Wilkie Collins 1868 British English
425 Sense and Sensibility Jane Austen 1811 British English
480 Cold Comfort Farm Stella Gibbons 1932 British English
510 Eugenie Grandet Honoré de Balzac 1833 French French
542 Uncle Silas Sheridan Le Fanu 1864 Irish English
625 The Nine Tailors Dorothy L. Sayers 1934 British English
629 Titus Groan Mervyn Peake 1946 British English
731 The Mysteries of Udolpho Ann Radcliffe 1794 British English
765 The Thorn Birds Colleen McCullough 1977 Australian English
801 The Mysterious Affair at Styles Agatha Christie 1920 British English
821 Castle Rackrent Maria Edgeworth 1800 British English
851 The Last Chronicle of Barset Anthony Trollope 1867 British English
1000 A Thousand Acres Jane Smiley 1991 American English
1010 Fingersmith Sarah Waters 2002 British English
1057 The Master of Ballantrae Robert Louis Stevenson 1889 British English
1161 The Twelve Chairs Ilya Ilf, Evgeniy Petrov 1928 Russian Russian
1203 Nine Coaches Waiting Mary Stewart 1958 British English
1271 Extinction Thomas Bernhard 1986 Austrian German
1337 A Legacy Sybille Bedford 1956 German English
1396 Pierre et Jean Guy de Maupassant 1888 French French
1407 The Golovlyov Family Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin 1880 Russian Russian
1419 The Viceroys Federico De Roberto 1894 Italian Italian
1432 A Woman's Life Guy de Maupassant 1883 French French
1665 The House of Ulloa Emilia Pardo Bazán 1886 Spanish Spanish
1798 Washington Square Henry James 1880 American English
1808 Martin Chuzzlewit Charles Dickens 1843 British English
1863 Katherine Anya Seton 1954 American English
1888 A Dark Adapted Eye Barbara Vine 1986 British English
1964 The Löwensköld Ring Selma Lagerlöf 1925 Swedish Swedish
2109 The Shell Seekers Rosamunde Pilcher 1987 British English
2171 My Cousin Rachel Daphne du Maurier 1951 British English
2343 Mastro Don Gesualdo Giovanni Verga 1889 Italian Italian
2374 The Vatican Cellars André Gide 1914 French French
2387 Viper’s Tangle François Mauriac 1932 French French
2445 Pudd'nhead Wilson Mark Twain 1894 American English
2513 On the Black Hill Bruce Chatwin 1982 British English
2544 Camilla Fanny Burney 1796 British English
2735 The Circular Staircase Mary Roberts Rinehart 1908 American English
2852 Bad News Edward St Aubyn 1992 British English
2886 The Tragedy Of Y Ellery Queen 1932 American English
3022 The Memoirs Of Barry Lyndon William Makepeace Thackeray 1844 British English
3038 Heavy Weather P. G. Wodehouse 1933 British English
3136 Mother's Milk Edward St Aubyn 2005 British English
3151 A Series of Unfortunate Events #1 Lemony Snicket 1999 American English
3203 Trap For Cinderella Sebastien Japrisot 1963 French French
3324 King Lear of the Steppes Ivan Turgenev 1870 Russian Russian
3638 The Second Wife E. Marlitt 1899 German German
3802 Manon des sources Marcel Pagnol 1963 French French
3804 The Ponder Heart Eudora Welty 1954 American English
3895 The Planetarium Nathalie Sarraute 1959 French French
4112 Brat Farrar Josephine Tey 1949 British English
4200 The Elementals Michael McDowell 1981 American English
4208 Land Pak Kyongni 1969 Korean Korean
4260 A Nobleman's Nest Ivan Turgenev 1859 Russian Russian
4282 The Spirits Of The Earth Catherine Colomb 1962 Swiss French
4310 Ennui Maria Edgeworth 1809 Irish English
4310 Brewster's Millions Richard Greaves 1902 British English
4310 Regency Buck Georgette Heyer 1935 British English
4385 Flowers in the Attic V. C. Andrews 1979 American English
4421 The Voysey Inheritance Harley Granville Barker 1905 British English
4421 Desire Under The Elms Eugene O'Neill 1924 American English
4448 The Greek Coffin Mystery Ellery Queen 1932 American English
4483 The Eustace Diamonds Anthony Trollope 1871 British English
4735 Woman Of Straw Catherine Arley 1956 French French
4788 The Way Of The World William Congreve 1700 British English
4982 The Hare with Amber Eyes Edmund de Waal 2010 British English
5131 The Influence Ramsey Campbell 1988 British English
5261 St. Peter's Umbrella Kálmán Mikszáth 1895 Hungarian Hungarian
5275 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Tennessee Williams 1955 American English
5281 At Last Edward St Aubyn 2011 British English
5311 The Town House Norah Lofts 1959 British English
5311 The Unknown Ajax Georgette Heyer 1959 British English
5319 The Leavenworth Case Anna Katharine Green 1878 American English
5371 Death Comes As The End Agatha Christie 1944 British English
5434 The House At Old Vine Norah Lofts 1961 British English
5441 The Pendragon Legend Antal Szerb 1934 Hungarian Hungarian
5483 The House At Sunset Norah Lofts 1962 British English
5592 Felix Holt, The Radical George Eliot 1866 French English
5618 The Westing Game Ellen Raskin 1978 American English
5619 Our Share of Night Mariana Enríquez 2019 Argentinian Spanish
5668 La Famille Boussardel Philippe Heriat 1944 French French
5851 Love For Love William Congreve 1695 British English
5863 Elders And Betters Ivy Compton-Burnett 1944 British English
5918 Orley Farm Anthony Trollope 1862 British English
5971 Falling Leaves Adeline Yen Mah 1997 Chinese English
6177 The Mansion William Faulkner 1959 American English
6205 The Earth Émile Zola 1887 French French
6299 Guy Mannering Sir Walter Scott 1815 Scottish English
6487 The Keepers of the House Shirley Ann Grau 1964 American English
6493 The Hidden Hand Or, Capitola The Madcap E. D. E. N. Southworth 1859 American English
6717 The Crime At Black Dudley Margery Allingham 1929 British English
6893 Régimódi Történet Szabó, Magda 1977 Hungarian Hungarian
7067 O Testamento Do Sr. Napumoceno Da Silva Araújo Germano Almeida 1989 Cape Verdean Portuguese
7099 The Dutch House Ann Patchett 2019 American English
7117 The Fortunes Of Nigel Sir Walter Scott 1822 Scottish English
7216 A New Way To Pay Old Debts Philip Massinger 1633 British English
7216 The Beaux' Strategem George Farquhar 1707 British English
7216 Ursule Mirouet Honoré de Balzac 1842 French French
7216 The Entail John Galt 1823 Scottish English
7216 Doctor Thorne Anthony Trollope 1858 British English
7216 The Small House At Allington Anthony Trollope 1864 British English
7216 The Duke's Children Anthony Trollope 1880 British English
7216 No Name Wilkie Collins 1862 British English
7649 Jalna Mazo de La Roche 1927 Canadian English
8007 The Eye Of The Storm Patrick White 1973 Australian English
8336 The Grass Claude Simon 1958 French French
8425 The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms N. K. Jemisin 2010 American English
8591 The Promise Damon Galgut 2021 South African English
8697 Too Much Lip Melissa Lucashenko 2018 Australian English