Heartbreaking Literature

It's a well-worn cliche that the path of true love never runs smoothly.

It's also a well-worn cliche that the second week of February becomes a flutter of last minute bouquets of flowers and boxes of chocolates.

As an antidote to Valentine's Day we present ten books in this month's themed list, where the path of true love definitely DOES NOT run smoothly...

Lyrics Alley

by Leila Aboulela

Weidenfield and Nicholson

Set in Sudan in the 1950s, Lyrics Alley tells the story of the wealthy and powerful Abuzeid dynasty

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Wuthering Heights

by Emily Bronte

Penguin

Wuthering Heights is a wild, passionate story of the intense and almost demonic love between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff.

Read about 'Wuthering Heights'
What We Talk About When We Talk About Love

by Raymond Carver

Vintage

With its spare, colloquial narration and razor-sharp sense of how people really communicate, this collection went on to become one of the most influential pieces of literary fiction.

Read about 'What We Talk About When We Talk About Love'
Norwegian Wood

by Haruki Murakami

Vintage

Like Proust's Madeleine cake, the Beatles song of the title sets off a wave of memories for the narrator, Toru Watanabe as his remembers his teenage relationships with fragile first love Naoko and impetuous and unpredictable Midori.

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One Day

by David Nicholls

Hodder

Anti-Thatcherite Northerner Emma and confident Dexter spend the night together following their graduation from Edinburgh University in1988.

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Doctor Zhivago

by Boris Pasternak

Vintage Classics

Doctor Zhivago is the epic novel of Russia in the throes of revolution and one of the greatest love stories ever told.

Read about 'Doctor Zhivago'
Double Fault

by Lionel Shriver

Serpent's Tale

Ever since she picked up a racquet at the age of four, tennis has been Willy's one love, until the day she meets Eric Oberdorf.

Read about 'Double Fault'
Super Sad True Love Story

by Gary Shteyngart

Granta Books

A hilarious satire on digital consumerism and the death of the attention span, Shteyngart is masterful in never labouring a point and being constantly surprising, satirical and funny in this sign of the times book.

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Death of an Unsigned Band

by Tim Thornton

Vintage

It's enjoyable, funny, bittersweet, and like the epic powerballad the band sometimes ends on, ultimately triumphant.

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Caribou Island

by David Vann

Viking

Essentially the debut novel from literary powerhouse David Vann, Caribou Island is the tale of a crumbling marriage, blighted by disappointment, pretensions and a pounding headache. Caribou Island also features a lot of fish.

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Revolutionary Road

by Richard Yates

Vintage

Revolutionary Road ’s 1950s setting gives the book its context, but the timeless and universal faultlines that develop in the Wheelers’ relationship are as relevant today. In this way, Yates’ masterpiece is a microcosm of shattered dreams and wrong decisions...

Read about 'Revolutionary Road'