The last word

For me, the final line of a book is the most important. When I write I often use the title as the final line, as Oscar Wilde does so brilliantly in The Importance of Being Earnest (1895): "I’ve finally realised for the first time in my life, the vital Importance of Being Earnest."

Here are 10 (more) of the best final lines in literature:


1. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitgerald (1925)
"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."

2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, JK Rowling (2007)
"All was well."

3. The Woman in White, Wilkie Collins (1859)
"Marian was the good angel of our lives—let Marian end our Story."

4. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood (1985)
"Are there any questions?"

5. And Then There Were None, Agatha Christie (1939)
"And they will find ten dead bodies and an unsolved problem on Indian Island."

6. Frankenstein, Mary Shelley (1818)
"He was soon borne away 
by the waves and lost in darkness and distance."

7. The Kite Runner, Khaeld Hosseini (2003)
"I ran."

8. Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare (c.1595)
"For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo."

9. 1984, George Orwell (1949)
"He loved Big Brother."

10. The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
"It was not till they had examined the rings that they recognised who it was."


What are your favourite final lines of literature? And how do you like to end your own writing?