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
10810 La Montagne Jean-Noël Pancrazi 2012 French French
10826 Salt To The Sea Ruta Sepetys 2016 American English
10844 The End Of Days Jenny Erpenbeck 2012 German German
10897 Lola In The Mirror Trent Dalton 2023 Australian English
10908 Inside My Mother Ali Cobby Eckermann 2015 Australian English
10906 Before I Forget Anne Pauly 2019 French French
10913 Grief Andrew Holleran 2022 American English
10927 Fools of Fortune William Trevor 1983 Irish English
10928 The Lost Father Marina Warner 1988 British English
10943 The Leavers Lisa Ko 2017 American English
10944 We Are Okay Nina LaCour 2017 American English
10967 Rotters Daniel Kraus 2011 American English
11018 Camino de Perdición Luis Mateo Díez 2007 Spanish Spanish
11041 The Riders Tim Winton 1994 Australian English
11086 The Refugees Viet Thanh Nguyen 2017 American English
11218 Book Of My Mother Albert Cohen 1954 French French
11303 New Cemetery Simon Armitage 2017 English English
11320 When The Emperor Was Divine Julie Otsuka 2002 American English
11324 The Children’s Crusade Rebecca Brown 2003 Unknown English
11342 The Incendiaries R. O. Kwon 2018 American English
11366 La Fin D'amor Jean-Claude Marol French Unknown
11366 Où Sont Ils Maintenant. Anthologie Personnelle Laura Kasischke Unknown French
11393 Love Me Tender Constance Debré 2020 French French
11418 Waiting for Snow in Havana Carlos Eire 2003 Cuban English
11438 Philadelphia fire John Edgar Wideman 1990 American English
11500 The Thirty Names Of Night Zeyn Joukhadar 2020 Unknown English
11528 Orpheus and Eurydice Unknown -28 Unknown Ancient greek
11565 Nox Anne Carson 2010 Canadian English
11644 Arsonists City Hala Alyan 2021 American English
11644 Paradise Estate Max Easton 2021 Unknown English
11663 The Furrows Namwali Serpell 2022 Unknown English
11857 Mahmoud Ou La Montée Des Eaux Antoine Wauters 2021 Belgian French
11856 You Left On A May Day Yannis Ritsos Greek Greek
11882 Watching Over Her Jean-Baptiste Andrea 2021 French French
11884 All That’s Left Unsaid Tracey Lien 2022 Unknown English
12019 La Danseuse Patrick Modiano 2023 French French
12070 Mr. Ibrahim And The Flowers Of The Koran Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt 2001 French French
12077 Basti Intizar Husain 1979 Pakistani Urdu
12259 Lantern Slides Edna O'Brien 1990 Irish English
12291 All Russians Love Birch Trees Olga Grjasnowa 2012 German German
12403 The Future Homemakers Of America Laurie Graham 2001 British English
12412 Tidelines Sarah Sasson 2024 Unknown English
12515 The Other Mother Carol Schaefer 1991 American English
12588 Jim The Boy Tony Earley 2000 American English
12657 Poems Of Nathan Zach Nathan Zach 2020 Israeli Hebrew
13089 P.S. I Love You Cecelia Ahern 2004 Irish English
13077 The Isle In The Silver Sea Tasha Suri 2025 British English
13220 The Year Of Ice Brian Malloy 2002 American English
13258 You Shall Know Our Velocity Dave Eggers 2002 American English
13279 Idaho Emily Ruskovich 2017 American English
13340 Name All The Animals Alison Smith 2004 American English
13354 In My Brother's Shadow Uwe Timm 2005 German German
13362 First Love And Other Sorrows Harold Brodkey 1957 American English
13513 As Simple As Snow Gregory Galloway 2005 American English
13581 Out Of The Dark Patrick Modiano 1990 French French
13595 A Family Record Patrick Modiano 1977 French French
13600 Not Everybody Lives the Same Way Jean-Paul Dubois 2019 French French
13600 Live Fast Brigitte Giraud 2022 French French
13600 Die Gasse Der Dunklen Läden Patrick Modiano 1978 French French
13600 La Maison Vide Laurent Mauvignier French French
13600 The Lost Shore Anna Langfus 1962 French French
13600 The Lost Ones Frédérick Tristan 1983 French French
13772 All Souls Christine Schutt 2008 American English
13772 The Third Angel Alice Hoffman 2008 American English
13772 When We Get There Shauna Seliy 2008 Unknown English
13772 The Sunken Cathedral Kate Walbert 2015 American English
13818 I Bei Momenti Enzo Siciliano 1997 Italian Italian
13818 Il Viaggiatore Notturno Maurizio Maggiani 2005 Italian Italian
13818 Story Of My People Edoardo Nesi 2011 Italian Italian
13818 The Eight Mountains Paolo Cognetti 2016 Italian Italian
13886 City Of Miracles Robert Jackson Bennett 2017 American English
13922 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
14334 Come With Me Ronald Malfi 2021 American English
14554 The Deep End Of The Ocean Jacquelyn Mitchard 1996 American English
14667 The Finkler Question Howard Jacobson 2010 British English
14773 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
14833 Listen To The Warm Rod McKuen 1967 American English
14986 Borrowed Time Paul Monette 1988 American English
14986 A Home at the End of the World Michael Cunningham 1990 American English
14986 Animal Dreams Barbara Kingsolver 1990 American English
14986 Everything Inside Edwidge Danticat 2019 Haitian English
14986 Song Of Time Ian R. MacLeod 2008 British English
14986 The Book Of Form And Emptiness Ruth Ozeki 2021 Japanese English
14986 Crossing The River Caryl Phillips 1993 British English
14986 The Forgotten Waltz Anne Enright 2011 Irish English
14986 Native Guard Natasha Trethewey 2006 American English
14986 The Antelope Wife Louise Erdrich 1998 American English
14986 Away Jane Urquhart 1993 Canadian English
14986 The Dragonbone Chair Tad Williams 1988 American English
14986 The Cellist Of Sarajevo Steven Galloway 2008 Canadian English
14986 The Last House On Needless Street Catriona Ward 2021 British English
14986 Walk Two Moons Sharon Creech 1994 American English
14986 The Memory Keeper's Daughter Kim Edwards 2005 American English
14986 Love, Loss, And What I Wore Ilene Beckerman 1995 American English
14986 The Enlightenment Of The Greengage Tree Shokoofeh Azar 2017 Iranian Persian
14986 The Fantastic Flying Books Of Mr. Morris Lessmore William Joyce 2011 American English
14986 Please Look After Mom Kyung-sook Shin 2008 Korean Korean
14986 Held Anne Michaels 2023 Unknown English
14986 Hope Andrew Ridker 2023 American English
14986 Absolution Alice McDermott 2023 American English
14986 Siete Casas Vacías Samanta Schweblin 2015 Argentinian Spanish
15569 A Song For The Dark Times Ian Rankin 2020 British English
15609 The Old Capital Chu Tʽien-hsin 1996 Chinese Chinese
15918 Long Remember MacKinlay Kantor 1934 American English
15918 So Red The Rose Stark Young 1934 American English
16605 My Theodosia Anya Seton 1941 American English
17169 Dusk James Salter 1988 American English
17169 Aria of the Sea Dia Calhoun 2000 American English
17169 Old Cypress Nisha Da Cunha 1991 Indian Unknown
17169 Our Horses In Egypt Rosalind Belben 2007 British English