The Greatest Books of All Time on Relationships

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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
3324 The Return of Philip Latinowicz Miroslav Krleža 1932 Croatian Croatian
3324 A Day Off Storm Jameson 1933 British English
3324 The Living and the Dead Patrick White 1941 Australian English
3324 The Guiltless Hermann Broch 1950 Austrian German
3377 Ordinary People Judith Guest 1976 American English
3382 Like Life Lorrie Moore 1990 American English
3386 The Shadow Lines Amitav Ghosh 1988 Indian English
3389 Death Of A Red Heroine Qiu Xiaolong 2000 Chinese English
3399 Portrait Of A Marriage Nigel Nicolson 1973 British English
3405 Fifty Shades of Grey: E. L. James 2011 British English
3409 The Birds Tarjei Vesaas 1957 Norwegian Norwegian
3415 Hanna's Daughters Marianne Fredriksson 1994 Swedish Swedish
3434 Horseman, Pass By Larry McMurtry 1961 American English
3439 The House Next Door Anne Rivers Siddons 1978 American English
3443 Transit Rachel Cusk 2016 British English
3444 The Bitter Glass Eilís Dillon 1958 Irish English
3453 Magic for Beginners Kelly Link 2005 American English
3468 Kudos Rachel Cusk 2018 British English
3505 Heavy Wings Jie Zhang 1981 Chinese Chinese
3513 Mary Chesnut's Civil War Mary Boykin Chesnut 1981 American English
3522 Balzac Stefan Zweig 1946 Austrian German
3553 Divorcing Susan Taubes 1969 American English
3563 Charming Billy Alice McDermott 1998 American English
3569 Little Fires Everywhere Celeste Ng 2017 American English
3573 Youth Tove Ditlevsen 1967 Danish Danish
3578 Behind the Scenes at the Museum Kate Atkinson 1995 British English
3581 Call Me By Your Name André Aciman 2007 Italian English
3591 Do Everything in the Dark Gary Indiana 2003 American English
3597 The Third Wedding Kōstas Tachtsēs 1962 Greek Greek
3600 Daisy Jones & The Six Taylor Jenkins Reid 2019 American English
3614 The Vanishing Half Brit Bennett 2020 American English
3628 Convenience Store Woman Sayaka Murata 2016 Japanese Japanese
3630 Party Going Henry Green 1939 British English
3631 The Happy Island Dawn Powell 1938 American English
3805 The Ponder Heart Eudora Welty 1954 American English
3809 Hotel du Lac Anita Brookner 1984 British English
3846 Written on the Body Jeanette Winterson 1992 British English
3846 Troubling Love Elena Ferrante 1992 Italian Italian
3857 Closer Dennis Cooper 1989 American English
3860 This Side of Paradise F. Scott Fitzgerald 1920 American English
3861 Amal'eZulu B. W. Vilakazi 1945 South African Zulu
3859 Enduring Love Ian McEwan 1997 British English
3887 Lunar Park Bret Easton Ellis 2005 American English
3889 Illywhacker Peter Carey 1985 Australian English
3890 There But For The Ali Smith 2011 British English
3896 The Planetarium Nathalie Sarraute 1959 French French
3912 Salt On Our Skin Benoîte Groult 1988 French French
3924 The Coldest Winter Ever Sister Souljah 1999 American English
3945 In The Dream House Carmen Maria Machado 2019 American English
3953 Η κρύπτη Ε.Χ. Γονατάς 1963 Greek Greek
3953 Η Αυλή των Θαυμάτων Iakovos Kambanellis 1962 Greek Greek
3953 Ο Εξώστης Nikos Kakhtitsis 1963 Greek Greek
3953 The Schoolmistress With The Golden Eyes Stratis Myrivilis 1933 Greek Greek
3953 Λεμονοδάσος Kosmas Politis 1930 Greek Greek
4055 Leaving the Atocha Station Ben Lerner 2011 American English
4057 Bad Behavior Mary Gaitskill 1988 American English
4075 Travels With Lizbeth Lars Eighner 1993 American English
4083 No Laughing Matter Angus Wilson 1967 British English
4088 Love and Rockets Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez, Mario Hernandez 1982 American English
4097 Boyfriend Material Alexis Hall 2020 British English
4105 Die Schaukel Annette Kolb 1960 German German
4116 Why Did I Ever? Mary Robison 2001 American English
4120 Voices In The Evening Natalia Ginzburg 1961 Italian Italian
4126 Le Parole Tra Noi Leggere Lalla Romano 1969 Italian Italian
4132 Dark Avenues Ivan Bunin 1943 Russian Russian
4135 Fieldwork In Ukrainian Sex Oksana Zabuzhko 1996 Ukrainian Ukrainian
4136 The Faraway Nearby Rebecca Solnit 2013 American English
4137 Το Μυθιστόρημα της Κυρίας Έρσης Nikos-Gabriel Pentzikis 1966 Greek Greek
4138 Three plays Paul Claudel 1912 French French
4148 Forever... Judy Blume 1975 American English
4153 Ankunft Im Alltag Brigitte Reimann 1961 German German
4156 Asymmetry Lisa Halliday 2018 American English
4174 Replay Ken Grimwood 1986 American English
4178 De Kellner En De Levenden Simon Vestdijk 1949 Dutch Dutch
4200 Edisto Padgett Powell 1984 American English
4207 Heartbreak Tango Manuel Puig 1969 Argentinian Spanish
4207 Luka Antun Šoljan 1969 Croatian Croatian
4213 Miss Sophie's Diary And Other Stories Ding Ling 1928 Chinese Chinese
4279 Christmas At The Ivanovs' Alexander Vvedensky 1938 Russian Russian
4281 The Spirits Of The Earth Catherine Colomb 1962 Swiss French
4287 Gantenbein Max Frisch 1964 Swiss German
4293 What Belongs to You Garth Greenwell 2016 American English
4308 Mrs. Stevens Hears The Mermaids Singing May Sarton 1965 American English
4309 Caprice Ronald Firbank 1917 British English
4309 The Unbearable Bassington Saki 1912 British English
4309 The Getaway Jim Thompson 1958 American English
4309 The Shrimp And The Anemone L. P. Hartley 1944 British English
4309 Invitation To The Waltz Rosamond Lehmann 1932 British English
4309 Love For Lydia H. E. Bates 1952 British English
4309 The Parasites Daphne du Maurier 1949 British English
4309 The Weather In The Streets Rosamond Lehmann 1936 British English
4309 The Reluctant Orphan Sara Seale 1947 British English
4309 The Last September Elizabeth Bowen 1929 Irish English
4309 The Odd Women George Gissing 1893 British English
4309 Of Love & Hunger Julian Maclaren-Ross 1947 British English
4309 Afternoon Men Anthony Powell 1931 British English
4309 Darkness Falls From The Air Nigel Balchin 1942 British English
4309 Williwaw Gore Vidal 1946 American English
4369 More Die Of Heartbreak Saul Bellow 1987 American English
4370 Crazy Rich Asians Kevin Kwan 2013 American English
4403 The L Shaped Room Lynne Reid Banks 1960 British English
4403 A Kind Of Loving Stan Barstow 1960 British English
4403 This Sporting Life David Storey 1960 British English
4416 Detransition, Baby Torrey Peters 2021 American English
4436 A Mother's Kisses Bruce Jay Friedman 1964 American English
4451 Gift From The Sea Anne Morrow Lindbergh 1955 American English
4453 Gogol's Wife Tommaso Landolfi 1953 Italian Italian
4460 The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake Aimee Bender 2010 American English
4467 The Chateau William Maxwell 1961 American English
4469 The History of Love Nicole Krauss 2005 American English
4501 How Should a Person Be? Sheila Heti 2010 Canadian English
4502 Parallel Stories Péter Nádas 2005 Hungarian Hungarian
4506 North Woods Daniel Mason 2023 American English
4523 The Situation Is Hopeless, But Not Serious Paul Watzlawick 1983 American English
4539 Affliction Russell Banks 1989 American English
4542 A New Life Bernard Malamud 1961 American English
4569 The Rules Of Attraction Bret Easton Ellis 1987 American English
4594 Last Night James Salter 2005 American English
4616 The Emperor's Snuff Box John Dickson Carr 1942 American English
4637 Darkmans Nicola Barker 2007 British English