Flowers in the Attic
This book’s name will forever be stuck in my mind. It is all about a mother's selfishness, cruelty and abandonment of her children. It broke my heart and even though I read it about eight years ago, I still get nightmares about it.

Nothing overtly gory, abusive, or ominous. It's just that the mother’s callousness is so disturbing.
Magda

Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas
The one and only book that had me gushing tears was James Patterson's Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas. It was so heart wrenching that I could not put it down. I read the book in one sitting with a box of tissues, a box of chocolates and a glass of wine (okay several glasses of wine).

I only read in the evening before I sleep to calm myself so that I can fall asleep, however on this occasion I started the book and could not put it down.

It was a weeknight and I had to go to work the next day, but still I read the entire book only finishing at about 2:00am. You can just imagine what I looked like the next day. With all that wine and crying I had the puffiest, reddest eyes the next day.

Below is a description of the book directly from Kalahari.com:

“Katie Wilkinson has found the perfect man at last--but one day, he disappears, leaving behind only a diary, written by his ex-wife, for her to read. She reads on, filled with terror and hope as she struggles to understand what happened--and whether her new love can survive.”

Definitely a must read.
Kamani

The Grapes of Wrath
I was at that impressionable age (late teens) when I believed that I could save the world!

The repetition of certain passages in the narrative served to reinforce the plight of the families. And this mood is maintained throughout the entire story – that sense of foreboding creeping up on the reader page after compelling page.

This book encouraged me to examine perspective, as well as cause and effect.  The sheer hopelessness in their situation; people scraping the bottom of the barrel in the depression. In the end it just broke me.

I recall one scene so heart rending, of a starving old man suckling on a young mother who had just lost her baby.

It’s almost 40 years on and I have never forgotten that image.
Karima

A Tale of Two Cities, amongst others
I'm not sure if it's the most heartbreaking, but it's one of my favourites and no one ever really gets it: A Tale of Two Cities. When Carson whispers to Lucy, "A life you love", and you know he's about to go and take Charles’ place at the guillotine because he loves Lucy so much – I'm completely and utterly wrecked.

Just thinking about it gets the waterworks going.

And The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood is another fave of mine, it breaks my heart every time. Every time I read it I hope Jack won't go to war, that he'll stay and love Vivi. Every time.

And Gone With The Wind - obviously, you know how I go on about Scarlet & Rhett . And of course, Marian Keyes' Is Anybody Out There . . . when I figured out what was going on, total waterworks!

I love a good book cry.
Jennifer

What's the most heart-wrenching book you've read? Share your reading experiences below.