What was the saddest story you've ever read?

Question:

What was the saddest story you've ever read?

Mine was "Beat The Turtle Drum" by Constance C. Greene, back when I was a teenager.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold...it starts out with 14-year-old Susie being raped and then murdered by her neighbor who is a serial killer. The rest of the story is then told by the girl while she is in Heaven and how her death has affected her family (mom, dad, sister, and brother who is a still a young child), the boy she had a crush on, and another girl she wasn't familiar with, but who was "touched by her spirit" as she descended into heaven. Getting me to cry is like pulling teeth, but Sebold sure had me going when she talked about the pain and internal problems the family began facing with Susie's initial disappearance and thne discoveries that allow authorities to conclude that she is dead.