We asked our Facebook followers for their favourite heartbreaker; that one book that broke your heart, left a lump in your throat and a sudden desire for ice cream and cuddles.
We had over a thousand responses and over two hundred different titles were mentioned but ten stood out. Here they are, the top twenty weepies according to you.
Standing head and shoulders above all of the other nominees is Markus Zusak’s WW2 tale of Liesel. The Book Thief seems to be able to reduce even the stoniest heart to mush.
In a respectable but distant second is The Fault in Our Stars, a tale of young love in the face of adversity.
The classic Of Mice and Men is your third placed choice. John Steinbeck’s tale of gentle giant Lennie, his troubles and his good friend George’s battle to keep him safe resonated with many of you.
The final book in Veronica Roth’s Divergent Trilogy left 49 of you needing a hanky and a hug.
Where The Red Fern Grows, a story of a boy and two dogs by Wilson Rawls has all the ingredients guaranteed to leave you sobbing into your pillows.
Nicholas Sparks had several titles mentioned in the results of this poll but A Walk To Remember seems to have been the one to tug on your heartstrings the most.
Another popular author was Jojo Moyes, your favourite though is Me Before You, a tale of a man who has lost his reason for living and a woman who finds herself becoming his new reason.
Harry Potter is surprisingly high on this list, for me anyway. 28 of you point to a death (no spoilers here) in the final novel as your reason for crying over J.K. Rowling’s record breaking series.
S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders is in ninth place. A classic tale of a teenager who doesn’t fit in; the dark underbelly of life is laid bare in this modern YA classic.
And our final weepy? Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, this beautifully written book thoroughly deserves its spot in our top ten and if you come away from it dry eyed, you should go and have yourself checked over, you may not have a heart.
The next ten books, in the order of nomination are:
My Sister’s Keeper~Jodi Picoult
The Diary of a Young Girl~Anne Frank
Black Beauty ~ Anna Sewell
Love Story~Erich Segal
Anna Karenina~Leo Tolstoy
PS I Love You~Cecilia Ahern
Message in a Bottle~Nicholas Sparks
Little Women~Louisa May Alcott
Rage of Angels~Sidney Sheldon
The Bridges of Madison County~Robert J Waller
Wow, you do love a sad story don’t you. I hope we haven’t upset you too much with these weepy wanderings down memory lane and as always, if there’s a title you think should have been on the list, let us know in the comments.
“Bridges Over Madison County” turned me into blubbering mush for an hour. And I don’t even LIKE love stories!
Oh yes yes! I re-read that book whenever I need to be carried away into a real love story!!
What about the Huntress by Malinda Lo. That one gutted me.
The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford. Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy.
The Book Thief and The Diary Of Anne Frank made me outright cry. The Horse whisperer also made me cry.
Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas by James Patterson is a heartbreaker. I cry every time I read it.
Phantom – Susan Kay
Bridge to Terabithia and Tuck Everlasting
Angel Bright …. a lost and lonely angel is trying to get home to heaven on Christmas eve….you will weep ! perfect to read to the kids on the evenings up to Christmas but a beautiful metaphorical tale for the adults too, and who wouldn’t love a differently-abled dog….got to go get my hankie…
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne!
This book broke my heart
The Doll Maker by Harriet Arnow. This story didn’t just make me cry – it broke my heart.
The last book in Susan Cooper’s Dark is Rising sequence – it took me three nights to finish reading it to my son as it made me cry so much! Also Lord of the Rings.
A thousand splendid suns by akhaleed Hosseini
Oh yes that book stayed with me forever
Definitely “Bridge to Terabithia”
What I loved. Heartbreaking
A fine balance. Devestating
A thousand boy kisses by Tillie Cole… I challenge you not to cry. I cried from page 8 right through to the end.
Heart breakingly beautiful
“Emperor of Thorns”, that ending was so perfect and heartbreaking at the same time! When I read my favorite part to my husband ( whom I had previously warned not to read the trilogy) he asked: why on Earth are your reading such depressing stuff?!
“Love of Seven Dolls” by Paul Gallico