The Greatest Books of All Time on Loss

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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
10806 La Montagne Jean-Noël Pancrazi 2012 French French
10821 Salt To The Sea Ruta Sepetys 2016 American English
10840 The End Of Days Jenny Erpenbeck 2012 German German
10892 Lola In The Mirror Trent Dalton 2023 Australian English
10903 Inside My Mother Ali Cobby Eckermann 2015 Australian English
10901 Before I Forget Anne Pauly 2019 French French
10908 Grief Andrew Holleran 2022 American English
10922 Fools of Fortune William Trevor 1983 Irish English
10923 The Lost Father Marina Warner 1988 British English
10938 The Leavers Lisa Ko 2017 American English
10939 We Are Okay Nina LaCour 2017 American English
10962 Rotters Daniel Kraus 2011 American English
11014 Camino de Perdición Luis Mateo Díez 2007 Spanish Spanish
11037 The Riders Tim Winton 1994 Australian English
11082 The Refugees Viet Thanh Nguyen 2017 American English
11214 Book Of My Mother Albert Cohen 1954 French French
11299 New Cemetery Simon Armitage 2017 English English
11316 When The Emperor Was Divine Julie Otsuka 2002 American English
11320 The Children’s Crusade Rebecca Brown 2003 Unknown English
11338 The Incendiaries R. O. Kwon 2018 American English
11363 La Fin D'amor Jean-Claude Marol French Unknown
11363 Où Sont Ils Maintenant. Anthologie Personnelle Laura Kasischke Unknown French
11390 Love Me Tender Constance Debré 2020 French French
11415 Waiting for Snow in Havana Carlos Eire 2003 Cuban English
11435 Philadelphia fire John Edgar Wideman 1990 American English
11498 The Thirty Names Of Night Zeyn Joukhadar 2020 Unknown English
11526 Orpheus and Eurydice Unknown -28 Unknown Ancient greek
11564 Nox Anne Carson 2010 Canadian English
11642 Arsonists City Hala Alyan 2021 American English
11642 Paradise Estate Max Easton 2021 Unknown English
11661 The Furrows Namwali Serpell 2022 Unknown English
11855 Mahmoud Ou La Montée Des Eaux Antoine Wauters 2021 Belgian French
11854 You Left On A May Day Yannis Ritsos Greek Greek
11880 Watching Over Her Jean-Baptiste Andrea 2021 French French
11882 All That’s Left Unsaid Tracey Lien 2022 Unknown English
12017 La Danseuse Patrick Modiano 2023 French French
12069 Mr. Ibrahim And The Flowers Of The Koran Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt 2001 French French
12076 Basti Intizar Husain 1979 Pakistani Urdu
12258 Lantern Slides Edna O'Brien 1990 Irish English
12290 All Russians Love Birch Trees Olga Grjasnowa 2012 German German
12401 The Future Homemakers Of America Laurie Graham 2001 British English
12410 Tidelines Sarah Sasson 2024 Unknown English
12513 The Other Mother Carol Schaefer 1991 American English
12586 Jim The Boy Tony Earley 2000 American English
12655 Poems Of Nathan Zach Nathan Zach 2020 Israeli Hebrew
13086 P.S. I Love You Cecelia Ahern 2004 Irish English
13074 The Isle In The Silver Sea Tasha Suri 2025 British English
13217 The Year Of Ice Brian Malloy 2002 American English
13255 You Shall Know Our Velocity Dave Eggers 2002 American English
13276 Idaho Emily Ruskovich 2017 American English
13337 Name All The Animals Alison Smith 2004 American English
13351 In My Brother's Shadow Uwe Timm 2005 German German
13359 First Love And Other Sorrows Harold Brodkey 1957 American English
13511 As Simple As Snow Gregory Galloway 2005 American English
13580 Out Of The Dark Patrick Modiano 1990 French French
13594 A Family Record Patrick Modiano 1977 French French
13599 Not Everybody Lives the Same Way Jean-Paul Dubois 2019 French French
13599 Live Fast Brigitte Giraud 2022 French French
13599 Die Gasse Der Dunklen Läden Patrick Modiano 1978 French French
13599 La Maison Vide Laurent Mauvignier French French
13599 The Lost Shore Anna Langfus 1962 French French
13599 The Lost Ones Frédérick Tristan 1983 French French
13771 All Souls Christine Schutt 2008 American English
13771 The Third Angel Alice Hoffman 2008 American English
13771 When We Get There Shauna Seliy 2008 Unknown English
13771 The Sunken Cathedral Kate Walbert 2015 American English
13817 I Bei Momenti Enzo Siciliano 1997 Italian Italian
13817 Il Viaggiatore Notturno Maurizio Maggiani 2005 Italian Italian
13817 Story Of My People Edoardo Nesi 2011 Italian Italian
13817 The Eight Mountains Paolo Cognetti 2016 Italian Italian
13885 City Of Miracles Robert Jackson Bennett 2017 American English
13921 Blind Sunflowers Alberto Méndez 2004 Spanish Spanish
14011 Emperor Of The Air Ethan Canin 1988 American English
14025 Jamrach’s Menagerie Carol Birch 2011 British English
14107 The Game That Ended Us Fe Esperanza Trampe Filipino Filipino
14232 LaRose Louise Erdrich 2016 American English
14232 Bag Of Bones Stephen King 1998 American English
14232 Because Of Winn Dixie Kate DiCamillo 2000 American English
14232 The Sweet Hereafter Russell Banks 1991 American English
14232 Esperanza Rising Pam Muñoz Ryan 2000 American English
14333 Come With Me Ronald Malfi 2021 American English
14553 The Deep End Of The Ocean Jacquelyn Mitchard 1996 American English
14666 The Finkler Question Howard Jacobson 2010 British English
14771 The Tree Of Heaven May Sinclair 1917 British English
14815 Old Yeller Fred Gipson 1956 American English
14788 Instead Of A Letter Diana Athill 1963 British English
14831 Listen To The Warm Rod McKuen 1967 American English
14984 Borrowed Time Paul Monette 1988 American English
14984 A Home at the End of the World Michael Cunningham 1990 American English
14984 Animal Dreams Barbara Kingsolver 1990 American English
14984 Everything Inside Edwidge Danticat 2019 Haitian English
14984 Song Of Time Ian R. MacLeod 2008 British English
14984 The Book Of Form And Emptiness Ruth Ozeki 2021 Japanese English
14984 Crossing The River Caryl Phillips 1993 British English
14984 The Forgotten Waltz Anne Enright 2011 Irish English
14984 Native Guard Natasha Trethewey 2006 American English
14984 The Antelope Wife Louise Erdrich 1998 American English
14984 Away Jane Urquhart 1993 Canadian English
14984 The Dragonbone Chair Tad Williams 1988 American English
14984 The Cellist Of Sarajevo Steven Galloway 2008 Canadian English
14984 The Last House On Needless Street Catriona Ward 2021 British English
14984 Walk Two Moons Sharon Creech 1994 American English
14984 The Memory Keeper's Daughter Kim Edwards 2005 American English
14984 Love, Loss, And What I Wore Ilene Beckerman 1995 American English
14984 The Enlightenment Of The Greengage Tree Shokoofeh Azar 2017 Iranian Persian
14984 The Fantastic Flying Books Of Mr. Morris Lessmore William Joyce 2011 American English
14984 Please Look After Mom Kyung-sook Shin 2008 Korean Korean
14984 Held Anne Michaels 2023 Unknown English
14984 Absolution Alice McDermott 2023 American English
14984 Siete Casas Vacías Samanta Schweblin 2015 Argentinian Spanish
15561 A Song For The Dark Times Ian Rankin 2020 British English
15601 The Old Capital Chu Tʽien-hsin 1996 Chinese Chinese
15899 Long Remember MacKinlay Kantor 1934 American English
15899 So Red The Rose Stark Young 1934 American English
17120 Dusk James Salter 1988 American English
17120 Aria of the Sea Dia Calhoun 2000 American English
17120 Old Cypress Nisha Da Cunha 1991 Indian Unknown
17120 Our Horses In Egypt Rosalind Belben 2007 British English
17120 The Lotus Eaters Tatjani Soli 2010 American English
17120 A Book Of Common Prayer Joan Didion 1977 American English