Nicola here. Last week I spent a day on writing retreat with a very good friend of mine, also a romance writer. Over lunch, we got chatting about the books that make us cry. We weren’t talking about those books that drive us to tears of frustration as we’re writing them although there are plenty of those. We were talking as readers about the scenes that can make us cry every time we read them, even though we know them back to front and word for word. Not all of our favourites were romance books although some of them were. Others were thrillers, crime stories, even biographies.
What is it about certain books that will create such an emotional reaction in readers? I think we all have different reactions to different stories, depending on what strikes a personal chord, although some themes do seem to be pretty much universal. For some readers it’s the sheer depth of emotion. We’re right there with the characters, experiencing everything they are going through, rooting for them. We feel their pain – and their joy. In those cases I usually cry with happiness when they get their long-awaited, much-deserved HEA.
Other times it’s acts of extreme heroism that inspire us to weep; characters who stand up to the toughest challenges or defeat extraordinary odds. And then there are the heroic animals. They usually have me reaching for a tissue. Yet, as I say, stuff that works for one reader (or viewer because this happens on TV and in films as well) doesn’t always affect another in the same way. Sometimes if a book or TV programme is too overtly emotional I will feel manipulated in crying.
Sometimes it’s not even about the characters, it’s about the writing. There are some books that are so beautifully written that the sheer elegance moves us. It’s intensely personal. Some people cried at “The Fault in our Stars.” Others didn’t and wondered if that made them a bad person. It didn’t, just someone whose emotional response is triggered by something different.
I’ve been going along my shelves and here are three of the books that always make me cry no matter how many times I read them. (WARNING – there are spoilers here.) I’m going to try to work out why they work for me in this way, though I don’t want to kill the emotion in the process!
This Rough Magic by Mary Stewart
Happens every time I read it, and I have read this book a lot. The heroine Lucy is the sort of girl who 
will rescue any living creature. You can imagine her doing everything from letting trapped butterflies out of windows to buying up caged birds and releasing them.
At one point in the book Lucy saves the life of a dolphin that has beached itself, running backwards and forwards with water to keep it alive until she can rope in the hero to help her tow it back out to sea. Later on, when Lucy is drowning, the dolphin saves her life. I’m welling up just thinking about it. We all know that dolphins are intelligent creatures and I love that this one recognises Lucy and thinks: “I pay my debts.”
Rat Race by Dick Francis
I love Dick Francis's books. They have adventure and intrigue, hot heroes and usually a romance sub-plot. Rat Race is no exception. The hero is a pilot who is down on his luck who falls for the sister of the champion jockey. She's learning to fly and when it all goes wrong for her on a flight he risks everything to turn back and save her. Sob!
Persuasion by Jane Austen
A favourite book of mine that not even English Literature exams could spoil! The moment when Anne reads the letter from Captain Wentworth, full of all the passion and emotion he wants to express to her. Wentworth gets around the conventions of the time in order to declare his love for her. "Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever…"
So those are three of mine. What about you? Do you enjoy a good cry when you’re reading a book or watching a film? Which books or scenes have that effect on you and why?
I read the last pages of Anything For Danny by Carla Cassidy with tears rolling down my cheeks.
When I think of the books that have left the biggest impression on me I think most of them have had more than a touch of angst.
I read the last pages of Anything For Danny by Carla Cassidy with tears rolling down my cheeks.
When I think of the books that have left the biggest impression on me I think most of them have had more than a touch of angst.
I read the last pages of Anything For Danny by Carla Cassidy with tears rolling down my cheeks.
When I think of the books that have left the biggest impression on me I think most of them have had more than a touch of angst.
I read the last pages of Anything For Danny by Carla Cassidy with tears rolling down my cheeks.
When I think of the books that have left the biggest impression on me I think most of them have had more than a touch of angst.
I read the last pages of Anything For Danny by Carla Cassidy with tears rolling down my cheeks.
When I think of the books that have left the biggest impression on me I think most of them have had more than a touch of angst.
Thanks, Elaine! I do think that if a book is emotionally real to you it can touch you time and again.
Thanks, Elaine! I do think that if a book is emotionally real to you it can touch you time and again.
Thanks, Elaine! I do think that if a book is emotionally real to you it can touch you time and again.
Thanks, Elaine! I do think that if a book is emotionally real to you it can touch you time and again.
Thanks, Elaine! I do think that if a book is emotionally real to you it can touch you time and again.
My latest weepy moments have been Carla Kelly’s books. In Miss Milton Speaks Her Mind, there’s a scene in a grave yard that had me looking down at something dripping on my pillow. And then there’s Miss Grimsley’s Oxford’s Career where she goes introspective, railing against the limitations that society imposed on women. She wanted education so badly, and her brother hated every moment in class at Oxford.
I also was crying at the end of Belle–both justice and love. I attend movies with a woman who is partially blind, and she likes me to read the captions. I kept gulping as I read about the portrait.
My latest weepy moments have been Carla Kelly’s books. In Miss Milton Speaks Her Mind, there’s a scene in a grave yard that had me looking down at something dripping on my pillow. And then there’s Miss Grimsley’s Oxford’s Career where she goes introspective, railing against the limitations that society imposed on women. She wanted education so badly, and her brother hated every moment in class at Oxford.
I also was crying at the end of Belle–both justice and love. I attend movies with a woman who is partially blind, and she likes me to read the captions. I kept gulping as I read about the portrait.
My latest weepy moments have been Carla Kelly’s books. In Miss Milton Speaks Her Mind, there’s a scene in a grave yard that had me looking down at something dripping on my pillow. And then there’s Miss Grimsley’s Oxford’s Career where she goes introspective, railing against the limitations that society imposed on women. She wanted education so badly, and her brother hated every moment in class at Oxford.
I also was crying at the end of Belle–both justice and love. I attend movies with a woman who is partially blind, and she likes me to read the captions. I kept gulping as I read about the portrait.
My latest weepy moments have been Carla Kelly’s books. In Miss Milton Speaks Her Mind, there’s a scene in a grave yard that had me looking down at something dripping on my pillow. And then there’s Miss Grimsley’s Oxford’s Career where she goes introspective, railing against the limitations that society imposed on women. She wanted education so badly, and her brother hated every moment in class at Oxford.
I also was crying at the end of Belle–both justice and love. I attend movies with a woman who is partially blind, and she likes me to read the captions. I kept gulping as I read about the portrait.
My latest weepy moments have been Carla Kelly’s books. In Miss Milton Speaks Her Mind, there’s a scene in a grave yard that had me looking down at something dripping on my pillow. And then there’s Miss Grimsley’s Oxford’s Career where she goes introspective, railing against the limitations that society imposed on women. She wanted education so badly, and her brother hated every moment in class at Oxford.
I also was crying at the end of Belle–both justice and love. I attend movies with a woman who is partially blind, and she likes me to read the captions. I kept gulping as I read about the portrait.
I love a good cry in a book as long as I know I will have a satisfyingly happy ending. Mary Balogh’s traditional Regencies have given me some of my best tissues-are-needed moments with The Temporary Wife, A Precious Jewel and Dancing With Clara to name 3. Carla Kelly’s The Admiral’s Penniless Bride and Reforming Lord Ragsdale have marvelous tear-inducing moments. On my bedside table I have a lamp that has a bookshelf at its base. On it I have some of my very favorite of books that I can read those teary scenes and then immediately go to the happy ending and fall asleep with a smile on my face. Some very wonderful authors have books there that I enjoy again and again. They are my Super Keepers.
I love a good cry in a book as long as I know I will have a satisfyingly happy ending. Mary Balogh’s traditional Regencies have given me some of my best tissues-are-needed moments with The Temporary Wife, A Precious Jewel and Dancing With Clara to name 3. Carla Kelly’s The Admiral’s Penniless Bride and Reforming Lord Ragsdale have marvelous tear-inducing moments. On my bedside table I have a lamp that has a bookshelf at its base. On it I have some of my very favorite of books that I can read those teary scenes and then immediately go to the happy ending and fall asleep with a smile on my face. Some very wonderful authors have books there that I enjoy again and again. They are my Super Keepers.
I love a good cry in a book as long as I know I will have a satisfyingly happy ending. Mary Balogh’s traditional Regencies have given me some of my best tissues-are-needed moments with The Temporary Wife, A Precious Jewel and Dancing With Clara to name 3. Carla Kelly’s The Admiral’s Penniless Bride and Reforming Lord Ragsdale have marvelous tear-inducing moments. On my bedside table I have a lamp that has a bookshelf at its base. On it I have some of my very favorite of books that I can read those teary scenes and then immediately go to the happy ending and fall asleep with a smile on my face. Some very wonderful authors have books there that I enjoy again and again. They are my Super Keepers.
I love a good cry in a book as long as I know I will have a satisfyingly happy ending. Mary Balogh’s traditional Regencies have given me some of my best tissues-are-needed moments with The Temporary Wife, A Precious Jewel and Dancing With Clara to name 3. Carla Kelly’s The Admiral’s Penniless Bride and Reforming Lord Ragsdale have marvelous tear-inducing moments. On my bedside table I have a lamp that has a bookshelf at its base. On it I have some of my very favorite of books that I can read those teary scenes and then immediately go to the happy ending and fall asleep with a smile on my face. Some very wonderful authors have books there that I enjoy again and again. They are my Super Keepers.
I love a good cry in a book as long as I know I will have a satisfyingly happy ending. Mary Balogh’s traditional Regencies have given me some of my best tissues-are-needed moments with The Temporary Wife, A Precious Jewel and Dancing With Clara to name 3. Carla Kelly’s The Admiral’s Penniless Bride and Reforming Lord Ragsdale have marvelous tear-inducing moments. On my bedside table I have a lamp that has a bookshelf at its base. On it I have some of my very favorite of books that I can read those teary scenes and then immediately go to the happy ending and fall asleep with a smile on my face. Some very wonderful authors have books there that I enjoy again and again. They are my Super Keepers.
It’s hard to describe the books that made me cry without going into spoilers, but here goes:
I almost ran out of tissues the first time I read “I Heard the Owl Call My Name” by Margaret Craven. It’s a relatively short book, but the author nonetheless manages to create characters and a setting that are complete and fully realized. The main character is a young minister who is sent to the woods and mountains of the upper northwest as his first parish. We come to know and love him just as he comes to know and love his parishioners. It’s a lovely, lovely book.
The ending of “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak also made me cry. I gave a copy to a friend when a bunch of women went away for a long weekend and watched her cry when she got to the end (she’s a teacher and then assigned it to her HS class that year).
It’s no secret that the heroine of “The Mercy of Thin Air” dies very early in the book. But I liked her so much and was so sorry that she and her fiance did not get their HEA.
It’s hard to describe the books that made me cry without going into spoilers, but here goes:
I almost ran out of tissues the first time I read “I Heard the Owl Call My Name” by Margaret Craven. It’s a relatively short book, but the author nonetheless manages to create characters and a setting that are complete and fully realized. The main character is a young minister who is sent to the woods and mountains of the upper northwest as his first parish. We come to know and love him just as he comes to know and love his parishioners. It’s a lovely, lovely book.
The ending of “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak also made me cry. I gave a copy to a friend when a bunch of women went away for a long weekend and watched her cry when she got to the end (she’s a teacher and then assigned it to her HS class that year).
It’s no secret that the heroine of “The Mercy of Thin Air” dies very early in the book. But I liked her so much and was so sorry that she and her fiance did not get their HEA.
It’s hard to describe the books that made me cry without going into spoilers, but here goes:
I almost ran out of tissues the first time I read “I Heard the Owl Call My Name” by Margaret Craven. It’s a relatively short book, but the author nonetheless manages to create characters and a setting that are complete and fully realized. The main character is a young minister who is sent to the woods and mountains of the upper northwest as his first parish. We come to know and love him just as he comes to know and love his parishioners. It’s a lovely, lovely book.
The ending of “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak also made me cry. I gave a copy to a friend when a bunch of women went away for a long weekend and watched her cry when she got to the end (she’s a teacher and then assigned it to her HS class that year).
It’s no secret that the heroine of “The Mercy of Thin Air” dies very early in the book. But I liked her so much and was so sorry that she and her fiance did not get their HEA.
It’s hard to describe the books that made me cry without going into spoilers, but here goes:
I almost ran out of tissues the first time I read “I Heard the Owl Call My Name” by Margaret Craven. It’s a relatively short book, but the author nonetheless manages to create characters and a setting that are complete and fully realized. The main character is a young minister who is sent to the woods and mountains of the upper northwest as his first parish. We come to know and love him just as he comes to know and love his parishioners. It’s a lovely, lovely book.
The ending of “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak also made me cry. I gave a copy to a friend when a bunch of women went away for a long weekend and watched her cry when she got to the end (she’s a teacher and then assigned it to her HS class that year).
It’s no secret that the heroine of “The Mercy of Thin Air” dies very early in the book. But I liked her so much and was so sorry that she and her fiance did not get their HEA.
It’s hard to describe the books that made me cry without going into spoilers, but here goes:
I almost ran out of tissues the first time I read “I Heard the Owl Call My Name” by Margaret Craven. It’s a relatively short book, but the author nonetheless manages to create characters and a setting that are complete and fully realized. The main character is a young minister who is sent to the woods and mountains of the upper northwest as his first parish. We come to know and love him just as he comes to know and love his parishioners. It’s a lovely, lovely book.
The ending of “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak also made me cry. I gave a copy to a friend when a bunch of women went away for a long weekend and watched her cry when she got to the end (she’s a teacher and then assigned it to her HS class that year).
It’s no secret that the heroine of “The Mercy of Thin Air” dies very early in the book. But I liked her so much and was so sorry that she and her fiance did not get their HEA.
Nicola–
Such a great topic! But really, I’m an easy target–I cry at all kinds of things. Certainly self-sacrifice and noble behavior will get me every time. And when someone speaks his or heart and says things that may never again be said aloud……!
Nicola–
Such a great topic! But really, I’m an easy target–I cry at all kinds of things. Certainly self-sacrifice and noble behavior will get me every time. And when someone speaks his or heart and says things that may never again be said aloud……!
Nicola–
Such a great topic! But really, I’m an easy target–I cry at all kinds of things. Certainly self-sacrifice and noble behavior will get me every time. And when someone speaks his or heart and says things that may never again be said aloud……!
Nicola–
Such a great topic! But really, I’m an easy target–I cry at all kinds of things. Certainly self-sacrifice and noble behavior will get me every time. And when someone speaks his or heart and says things that may never again be said aloud……!
Nicola–
Such a great topic! But really, I’m an easy target–I cry at all kinds of things. Certainly self-sacrifice and noble behavior will get me every time. And when someone speaks his or heart and says things that may never again be said aloud……!
It really does take a lot to make me cry, but I found myself sobbing my heart out at the end of Milly Johnson’s The Teashop on the Corner. Without giving the plot away,let me just say I shocked myself because a. It’s chicklit, which I usually have a very low tolerance for, and b.I had spent quite a lot of the book chuckling away at some of the characters antics. It’s a fabulous book. She writes with an ensemble cast of characters, all of whom have their moment in the sun.And (mark of a good book – for me) I really, really didn’t want it to end ! Then I nipped off & downloaded Here Come The Girls, and The Yorkshire Pudding Club, and I realised that I had another must buy author on my list 🙂
It really does take a lot to make me cry, but I found myself sobbing my heart out at the end of Milly Johnson’s The Teashop on the Corner. Without giving the plot away,let me just say I shocked myself because a. It’s chicklit, which I usually have a very low tolerance for, and b.I had spent quite a lot of the book chuckling away at some of the characters antics. It’s a fabulous book. She writes with an ensemble cast of characters, all of whom have their moment in the sun.And (mark of a good book – for me) I really, really didn’t want it to end ! Then I nipped off & downloaded Here Come The Girls, and The Yorkshire Pudding Club, and I realised that I had another must buy author on my list 🙂
It really does take a lot to make me cry, but I found myself sobbing my heart out at the end of Milly Johnson’s The Teashop on the Corner. Without giving the plot away,let me just say I shocked myself because a. It’s chicklit, which I usually have a very low tolerance for, and b.I had spent quite a lot of the book chuckling away at some of the characters antics. It’s a fabulous book. She writes with an ensemble cast of characters, all of whom have their moment in the sun.And (mark of a good book – for me) I really, really didn’t want it to end ! Then I nipped off & downloaded Here Come The Girls, and The Yorkshire Pudding Club, and I realised that I had another must buy author on my list 🙂
It really does take a lot to make me cry, but I found myself sobbing my heart out at the end of Milly Johnson’s The Teashop on the Corner. Without giving the plot away,let me just say I shocked myself because a. It’s chicklit, which I usually have a very low tolerance for, and b.I had spent quite a lot of the book chuckling away at some of the characters antics. It’s a fabulous book. She writes with an ensemble cast of characters, all of whom have their moment in the sun.And (mark of a good book – for me) I really, really didn’t want it to end ! Then I nipped off & downloaded Here Come The Girls, and The Yorkshire Pudding Club, and I realised that I had another must buy author on my list 🙂
It really does take a lot to make me cry, but I found myself sobbing my heart out at the end of Milly Johnson’s The Teashop on the Corner. Without giving the plot away,let me just say I shocked myself because a. It’s chicklit, which I usually have a very low tolerance for, and b.I had spent quite a lot of the book chuckling away at some of the characters antics. It’s a fabulous book. She writes with an ensemble cast of characters, all of whom have their moment in the sun.And (mark of a good book – for me) I really, really didn’t want it to end ! Then I nipped off & downloaded Here Come The Girls, and The Yorkshire Pudding Club, and I realised that I had another must buy author on my list 🙂
Oh yes! Carla Kelly’s books always make me cry too, Shannon.
Oh yes! Carla Kelly’s books always make me cry too, Shannon.
Oh yes! Carla Kelly’s books always make me cry too, Shannon.
Oh yes! Carla Kelly’s books always make me cry too, Shannon.
Oh yes! Carla Kelly’s books always make me cry too, Shannon.
I love that idea, Valerie, of following up those emotional moments with the HEA! Very satisfying.
I love that idea, Valerie, of following up those emotional moments with the HEA! Very satisfying.
I love that idea, Valerie, of following up those emotional moments with the HEA! Very satisfying.
I love that idea, Valerie, of following up those emotional moments with the HEA! Very satisfying.
I love that idea, Valerie, of following up those emotional moments with the HEA! Very satisfying.
Thanks, Susan. I love getting recommendations for books that get you emotionally involved.
Thanks, Susan. I love getting recommendations for books that get you emotionally involved.
Thanks, Susan. I love getting recommendations for books that get you emotionally involved.
Thanks, Susan. I love getting recommendations for books that get you emotionally involved.
Thanks, Susan. I love getting recommendations for books that get you emotionally involved.
Me too, Mary Jo! Self-sacrifice gets me every time!
Me too, Mary Jo! Self-sacrifice gets me every time!
Me too, Mary Jo! Self-sacrifice gets me every time!
Me too, Mary Jo! Self-sacrifice gets me every time!
Me too, Mary Jo! Self-sacrifice gets me every time!
I’m so pleased you enjoyed Milly’s book, Cate. I’ve heard great things about it. High praise, especially if you don’t usually cry at a book!
I’m so pleased you enjoyed Milly’s book, Cate. I’ve heard great things about it. High praise, especially if you don’t usually cry at a book!
I’m so pleased you enjoyed Milly’s book, Cate. I’ve heard great things about it. High praise, especially if you don’t usually cry at a book!
I’m so pleased you enjoyed Milly’s book, Cate. I’ve heard great things about it. High praise, especially if you don’t usually cry at a book!
I’m so pleased you enjoyed Milly’s book, Cate. I’ve heard great things about it. High praise, especially if you don’t usually cry at a book!
I sobbed over Lily’s plight in Mary Balogh One night for love. Loved Joanna Bournes Black Hawk and many of the Fallen Angels series got tears in my eyes with all the tortured heroes. I guess I like historical fiction for its scope in drenching lots of drama and romance and tragedy in the lives of ordinary people. It was the times that they lived in.
I sobbed over Lily’s plight in Mary Balogh One night for love. Loved Joanna Bournes Black Hawk and many of the Fallen Angels series got tears in my eyes with all the tortured heroes. I guess I like historical fiction for its scope in drenching lots of drama and romance and tragedy in the lives of ordinary people. It was the times that they lived in.
I sobbed over Lily’s plight in Mary Balogh One night for love. Loved Joanna Bournes Black Hawk and many of the Fallen Angels series got tears in my eyes with all the tortured heroes. I guess I like historical fiction for its scope in drenching lots of drama and romance and tragedy in the lives of ordinary people. It was the times that they lived in.
I sobbed over Lily’s plight in Mary Balogh One night for love. Loved Joanna Bournes Black Hawk and many of the Fallen Angels series got tears in my eyes with all the tortured heroes. I guess I like historical fiction for its scope in drenching lots of drama and romance and tragedy in the lives of ordinary people. It was the times that they lived in.
I sobbed over Lily’s plight in Mary Balogh One night for love. Loved Joanna Bournes Black Hawk and many of the Fallen Angels series got tears in my eyes with all the tortured heroes. I guess I like historical fiction for its scope in drenching lots of drama and romance and tragedy in the lives of ordinary people. It was the times that they lived in.
There are only two books that I can remember having a good cry over. 1st book – The Mayor of Casterbridge. I was an impressionable 12-year old and couldn’t believe there was such cruelty in this world, where a man would sell his wife. 5-6 years back. I read Life of Pi. At the end (spoilers ahead) when its revealed Richard Parker ate Pi’s mother, I just burst into tears.
There are only two books that I can remember having a good cry over. 1st book – The Mayor of Casterbridge. I was an impressionable 12-year old and couldn’t believe there was such cruelty in this world, where a man would sell his wife. 5-6 years back. I read Life of Pi. At the end (spoilers ahead) when its revealed Richard Parker ate Pi’s mother, I just burst into tears.
There are only two books that I can remember having a good cry over. 1st book – The Mayor of Casterbridge. I was an impressionable 12-year old and couldn’t believe there was such cruelty in this world, where a man would sell his wife. 5-6 years back. I read Life of Pi. At the end (spoilers ahead) when its revealed Richard Parker ate Pi’s mother, I just burst into tears.
There are only two books that I can remember having a good cry over. 1st book – The Mayor of Casterbridge. I was an impressionable 12-year old and couldn’t believe there was such cruelty in this world, where a man would sell his wife. 5-6 years back. I read Life of Pi. At the end (spoilers ahead) when its revealed Richard Parker ate Pi’s mother, I just burst into tears.
There are only two books that I can remember having a good cry over. 1st book – The Mayor of Casterbridge. I was an impressionable 12-year old and couldn’t believe there was such cruelty in this world, where a man would sell his wife. 5-6 years back. I read Life of Pi. At the end (spoilers ahead) when its revealed Richard Parker ate Pi’s mother, I just burst into tears.
I thought I would fail my student teaching when I found I had to read Charlotte’s Web to my class. I sobbed hopelessly when I read it to my son. He ended up patting me and telling me it was OK mom, it is only a book — he was 4. I managed to get through it though by reminding myself I am a teacher. My daughter and I sobbed through the ENTIRE last Harry Potter book. She because it was the end of her childhood (more than half her life was HP related) and me because the parents were sending their kids off to school. But then again I cry when people win on Wheel of Fortune.
I thought I would fail my student teaching when I found I had to read Charlotte’s Web to my class. I sobbed hopelessly when I read it to my son. He ended up patting me and telling me it was OK mom, it is only a book — he was 4. I managed to get through it though by reminding myself I am a teacher. My daughter and I sobbed through the ENTIRE last Harry Potter book. She because it was the end of her childhood (more than half her life was HP related) and me because the parents were sending their kids off to school. But then again I cry when people win on Wheel of Fortune.
I thought I would fail my student teaching when I found I had to read Charlotte’s Web to my class. I sobbed hopelessly when I read it to my son. He ended up patting me and telling me it was OK mom, it is only a book — he was 4. I managed to get through it though by reminding myself I am a teacher. My daughter and I sobbed through the ENTIRE last Harry Potter book. She because it was the end of her childhood (more than half her life was HP related) and me because the parents were sending their kids off to school. But then again I cry when people win on Wheel of Fortune.
I thought I would fail my student teaching when I found I had to read Charlotte’s Web to my class. I sobbed hopelessly when I read it to my son. He ended up patting me and telling me it was OK mom, it is only a book — he was 4. I managed to get through it though by reminding myself I am a teacher. My daughter and I sobbed through the ENTIRE last Harry Potter book. She because it was the end of her childhood (more than half her life was HP related) and me because the parents were sending their kids off to school. But then again I cry when people win on Wheel of Fortune.
I thought I would fail my student teaching when I found I had to read Charlotte’s Web to my class. I sobbed hopelessly when I read it to my son. He ended up patting me and telling me it was OK mom, it is only a book — he was 4. I managed to get through it though by reminding myself I am a teacher. My daughter and I sobbed through the ENTIRE last Harry Potter book. She because it was the end of her childhood (more than half her life was HP related) and me because the parents were sending their kids off to school. But then again I cry when people win on Wheel of Fortune.
The first novel that made me cry was Thomas Hardy’s “The Trumpet Major”. I first read this as a sixteen year old and many years later I re-read it and, yes, it brought tears to my eyes again. The final paragraph of the novel was responsible: The candle held by his father shed its waving light upon John’s face and uniform as with a farewell smile he turned on the doorstone, backed by the black night; and in another moment he had plunged into the darkness, the ring of his smart step dying away upon the bridge as he joined his companions-in-arms, and went off to blow his trumpet till silenced for ever upon one of the bloody battle-fields of Spain.
To a sixteen year old poor John Loveday taking his broken heart and going off to war
was such a tragedy, but, oh, how romantic.
The first novel that made me cry was Thomas Hardy’s “The Trumpet Major”. I first read this as a sixteen year old and many years later I re-read it and, yes, it brought tears to my eyes again. The final paragraph of the novel was responsible: The candle held by his father shed its waving light upon John’s face and uniform as with a farewell smile he turned on the doorstone, backed by the black night; and in another moment he had plunged into the darkness, the ring of his smart step dying away upon the bridge as he joined his companions-in-arms, and went off to blow his trumpet till silenced for ever upon one of the bloody battle-fields of Spain.
To a sixteen year old poor John Loveday taking his broken heart and going off to war
was such a tragedy, but, oh, how romantic.
The first novel that made me cry was Thomas Hardy’s “The Trumpet Major”. I first read this as a sixteen year old and many years later I re-read it and, yes, it brought tears to my eyes again. The final paragraph of the novel was responsible: The candle held by his father shed its waving light upon John’s face and uniform as with a farewell smile he turned on the doorstone, backed by the black night; and in another moment he had plunged into the darkness, the ring of his smart step dying away upon the bridge as he joined his companions-in-arms, and went off to blow his trumpet till silenced for ever upon one of the bloody battle-fields of Spain.
To a sixteen year old poor John Loveday taking his broken heart and going off to war
was such a tragedy, but, oh, how romantic.
The first novel that made me cry was Thomas Hardy’s “The Trumpet Major”. I first read this as a sixteen year old and many years later I re-read it and, yes, it brought tears to my eyes again. The final paragraph of the novel was responsible: The candle held by his father shed its waving light upon John’s face and uniform as with a farewell smile he turned on the doorstone, backed by the black night; and in another moment he had plunged into the darkness, the ring of his smart step dying away upon the bridge as he joined his companions-in-arms, and went off to blow his trumpet till silenced for ever upon one of the bloody battle-fields of Spain.
To a sixteen year old poor John Loveday taking his broken heart and going off to war
was such a tragedy, but, oh, how romantic.
The first novel that made me cry was Thomas Hardy’s “The Trumpet Major”. I first read this as a sixteen year old and many years later I re-read it and, yes, it brought tears to my eyes again. The final paragraph of the novel was responsible: The candle held by his father shed its waving light upon John’s face and uniform as with a farewell smile he turned on the doorstone, backed by the black night; and in another moment he had plunged into the darkness, the ring of his smart step dying away upon the bridge as he joined his companions-in-arms, and went off to blow his trumpet till silenced for ever upon one of the bloody battle-fields of Spain.
To a sixteen year old poor John Loveday taking his broken heart and going off to war
was such a tragedy, but, oh, how romantic.
Thanks for your comment, Prema. Yes, more than one of the Wenches have written books that have made me reach for the tissues for the depth of emotion.
Thanks for your comment, Prema. Yes, more than one of the Wenches have written books that have made me reach for the tissues for the depth of emotion.
Thanks for your comment, Prema. Yes, more than one of the Wenches have written books that have made me reach for the tissues for the depth of emotion.
Thanks for your comment, Prema. Yes, more than one of the Wenches have written books that have made me reach for the tissues for the depth of emotion.
Thanks for your comment, Prema. Yes, more than one of the Wenches have written books that have made me reach for the tissues for the depth of emotion.
Oh yes, the Mayor of Casterbridge! I know some of Hardy’s books moved me to tears when I was younger too. Life in all its harshness can be a real shock when you are young and impressionable.
Oh yes, the Mayor of Casterbridge! I know some of Hardy’s books moved me to tears when I was younger too. Life in all its harshness can be a real shock when you are young and impressionable.
Oh yes, the Mayor of Casterbridge! I know some of Hardy’s books moved me to tears when I was younger too. Life in all its harshness can be a real shock when you are young and impressionable.
Oh yes, the Mayor of Casterbridge! I know some of Hardy’s books moved me to tears when I was younger too. Life in all its harshness can be a real shock when you are young and impressionable.
Oh yes, the Mayor of Casterbridge! I know some of Hardy’s books moved me to tears when I was younger too. Life in all its harshness can be a real shock when you are young and impressionable.
Oh, that’s so sweet of your son, Lyn!
Interesting that books can be so closely associated with phases of our lives and make an unforgettable impression as a result. Harry Potter is a great example.
Oh, that’s so sweet of your son, Lyn!
Interesting that books can be so closely associated with phases of our lives and make an unforgettable impression as a result. Harry Potter is a great example.
Oh, that’s so sweet of your son, Lyn!
Interesting that books can be so closely associated with phases of our lives and make an unforgettable impression as a result. Harry Potter is a great example.
Oh, that’s so sweet of your son, Lyn!
Interesting that books can be so closely associated with phases of our lives and make an unforgettable impression as a result. Harry Potter is a great example.
Oh, that’s so sweet of your son, Lyn!
Interesting that books can be so closely associated with phases of our lives and make an unforgettable impression as a result. Harry Potter is a great example.
Another great example of Thomas Hardy’s power with words. Thank you, Yvonne!
Another great example of Thomas Hardy’s power with words. Thank you, Yvonne!
Another great example of Thomas Hardy’s power with words. Thank you, Yvonne!
Another great example of Thomas Hardy’s power with words. Thank you, Yvonne!
Another great example of Thomas Hardy’s power with words. Thank you, Yvonne!
The House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton. Poor Lily is so trapped by her life, and lack of choices.
The House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton. Poor Lily is so trapped by her life, and lack of choices.
The House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton. Poor Lily is so trapped by her life, and lack of choices.
The House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton. Poor Lily is so trapped by her life, and lack of choices.
The House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton. Poor Lily is so trapped by her life, and lack of choices.
my goodness. I have never read that book but even just reading this tiny bit that you included has me all choked up.
Another wench fan. Jeannette
my goodness. I have never read that book but even just reading this tiny bit that you included has me all choked up.
Another wench fan. Jeannette
my goodness. I have never read that book but even just reading this tiny bit that you included has me all choked up.
Another wench fan. Jeannette
my goodness. I have never read that book but even just reading this tiny bit that you included has me all choked up.
Another wench fan. Jeannette
my goodness. I have never read that book but even just reading this tiny bit that you included has me all choked up.
Another wench fan. Jeannette