Five books to make you cry

by Sharon Sant

I want to thank Rebecca for having me on the blog and I hope you like my list of books that made me cry. My choices are in no particular order and there will be others that pop into my head as soon as I switch off the laptop, but here they are:

 The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

 I LOVE this book.  I have read it three times! Set in England against World War II, it follows the progress of teenager David, who has just lost his mother to cancer.  Shortly afterwards his father meets another woman and a relationship blossoms, one that David finds it hard to accept.  What follows seemingly sets up as a tale of familial conflict, but soon takes the reader by complete surprise. Fleeing an argument, David finds himself trapped behind a wall as a plane crashes in his garden and the only escape is a portal to world of every fairy tale he has ever been told by his mother.

 

The Road by Cormack McCarthy

 On the face of it, nothing really happens.  But The Road, in my humble opinion, is one of the most finely crafted books I have ever read.  A man and a boy (we never find out their names) travel across America in search of some relief from their horrific life in the wake of an apparent apocalypse.  The most important consideration is food and shelter from the incessant cold, but close to that is perpetual fear from the gangs that roam the country capturing and eating defenceless people.  Terror for the reader comes from the notion that this man and his boy will be taken, and tears are shed for the internal dialogue of the man as he vows to protect his son, even if it means killing him with his own hands rather than let him be taken by one of these evil gangs.

 

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

 This book is about teenagers with cancer and it doesn’t take a genius to work out where this is going.  What Green does that is so poignant is that he gives them spirit and a need to wring every last bit from their short lives in the knowledge of their mortality.  Everything they do is like they’re doing it for the last time.  And when the time comes for at least one, as you know it will, it’s all the more tragic.

 

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

 Sorry, but I have to put Dickens in here.  I adore this novel and have done since I was a kid.  I can’t even remember how many times I’ve read it.  And as everyone (unless you’ve been living on Venus) knows the story, I’ll spare you the synopsis.  But God love Charlie, he was a master at tear-wringing.  When Oliver’s mother dies right at the start, I’m already in bits, perhaps because I know what’s coming.

 

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows

 Of course this made me cry!  Harry finally facing his destiny!  Hedwig! Couples finding each other!  Huge battles with casualties left right and centre!  Need I say more?