Top ten books on grieving

Helen Humphreys is the author of four books of poetry, six novels, and two works of creative non-fiction. Her most recent work of non-fiction is Nocturne (2013), a memoir about the life and death of her brother, Martin.

One entry from her top ten list of "writing that best reflects, and consoles, the experience of loss," as told to the Guardian:

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

This novel tells the story of the adult Bundren children, on their way, by horse and cart, to bury their mother, Addie, in Jefferson, a town 40 miles away from where she has died. The family travel with the body of their mother in a coffin built by the carpenter son, Cash, and each of the children narrates a part of the journey. It is a beautiful and lyrical look at grief, told by a chorus of mourners.

Read about the other entries on the list.

As I Lay Dying is on John Mullan's list of ten of the best teeth in literature, Jon McGregor's list of the top ten dead bodies in literature, Roy Blount Jr.'s list of five favorite books of Southern humor, and James Franco's six best books list.

The “My mother is a fish.” chapter in As I Lay Dying is among the ten most notorious parts of famous books according to Gabe Habash.

--Marshal Zeringue