Sarah Handyside: Books to heal a broken heart


Sure, you could type ‘how to heal a broken heart’ into the search bar of your online bookshop. You could sift through the self-help, look for a failsafe seven-point plan to feel better.
I know. I did it. A desperate search for concrete answers is exactly what inspired Instructions for Heartbreak, my debut novel following four friends as they navigate different forms of heartbreak. They create a manual with their advice to each other woven through the pages – whether to get a dramatic haircut, how to start dating again, whether it’s really possible to insulate yourself from the next broken heart.
But step-by-step guides to follow precisely are only ever going to get you so far – as my four women learn. Reading your way out of heartbreak demands immersive escapism, side-splitting humour and – ok – a bit of wisdom to prepare you for the road ahead. Here are my picks.
The Other Side of the Story by Marian Keyes
Marian Keyes is the godmother of ‘it’ll make you laugh, it’ll make you cry’ – and it’s because she’s the godmother of communicating people’s complexities and contradictions with a wicked dash of comedy. She’s the most effortless writer out there – her words seem to float off the page like bubbles and then you get to the end of the page and realise you’ve read the most devastating account of unrequited love. Anyway, Rachel’s Holiday and Watermelon are possibly more appropriate heartbreak reads, but I have a huge soft spot for this three-hander, featuring the best fictional literary agent ever (nearly as good as my real-life one). Plus, its implicit message that the same event can be experienced very differently by different people is a sensible one to have in the back of your mind.
The Rules Do Not Apply by Ariel Levy
This is more of the leaning-into-the-horror choice, as Levy unpacks the events leading up to and following on from the months in which she ‘lost my son, my spouse, and my house’. Bear with me. Levy is a wise and wonderful writer, and this book is a reminder that whatever storms may buffet your life – and despite how little control you may have over them – there is a path through. It’s a reminder to let go, and look forward.
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
On the one hand, Bill Bryson is truly one of the most laugh-out-loud writers alive – crucial ballast when you’re crying every five minutes. On the other, this is a book about the sheer joy of curiosity and discovery – Bryson was moved to write it after gazing out of a plane window at the ocean and realising he had no idea why seas are salty and rivers are not. If your heartbreak is making your world feel small, this is a book to expand your horizons again.
Adrian Mole – any and all of them – by Sue Townsend
‘I think I’m turning into an intellectual. It must be all the worry.’ Truly some of the funniest books in the world – but tender at the same time. I still crack them out of my childhood bookcase every time I visit my parents – there’s nothing more comforting.
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
I sometimes feel like Cheryl Strayed personally guided me through my last heartbreak, I spent so long listening to old episodes of Dear Sugar and reading the answers she wrote when agony aunt for The Rumpus. Wild is her memoir of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail following the death of her mother, and it’s the most gloriously lyrical account of self-discovery, inner strength and ultimately resolving to live a good life in spite of personal tragedy.
The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue
A fast, frenetic book about the joy of being young and the romance of friendship. O’Donogue apparently completed it to a very tight deadline after abandoning another novel because she just wasn’t having fun – and my god you can tell she was having fun writing this. It fizzes, and it will make you want to grab your best friend and head to the pub, and in spite of its turbulence, it’s ultimately a beautifully optimistic read.
Instructions for Heartbreak by Sarah Handyside is published by Macmillan on 30 January 2025