Line #42 TheLostLenore/Literature


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7	TheLostLenore in {{Literature}}.
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9	%%* In ''Literature/AlonzoAndMelissa'', one of the all-time great forgotten cheesy novels, Melissa is this for about half the book.
10	* Laura in ''Literature/AmericanGods''. Twice as interesting because even though she appears as an intelligent quasi-zombie throughout the story, she still acts as a Lenore to Shadow.
11	%% ZCE* ''Literature/AnnoDracula'': Lucy Westenra for Dr. Jack Seward.
12	* Derek Harris' first wife Mary is this in ''[[Literature/AuntDimity Aunt Dimity and the Duke]]''. The novel takes place over five years after her death from pneumonia, and the Duke's reference to the horrors of death by drowning triggers a flashback for Derek. He throws himself into his work, with young Peter covering for his absences and for the drunken housekeeper Derek unwittingly hired. Most of his character development involves his recovery and the budding romance between him and Emma Porter.
13	* Creator/BarbaraHambly's ''Literature/BenjaminJanuary'' novels feature [[PosthumousCharacter Ayasha]], the hero's wife, who died shortly before the beginning of the series. Eleven books and five years later, her (happily remarried) husband still mourns for her.
14	* In ''Literature/BoneSong'' by John Meaney, the protagonist [[BoyMeetsGhoul falls in love with]] [[AttractiveZombie a beautiful zombie woman]]... then, at the end of the novel, she is killed for a second time (zombies can be killed as well), and he spends the entirety of the second novel ''Dark Blood'' mourning her.
15	* Creator/KyellGold's ''Literature/{{Bridges}}'' has a gay male version, Hayward's boyfriend Foster died in a car accident four years previous, since then he's played matchmaker to the local gay community while refusing to let himself get into a serious relationship himself. Despite the urging of his roommate, Foster's paraplegic sister Carmila, to move on. It's only after Carmila has a talk with his latest "long-term project", and moves out with her own boyfriend, that Hayward starts to allow himself to move on.
16	%%* According to Philippa Gregory's interpretation of events in ''Literature/TheConstantPrincess'', Arthur was this to Catalina/Catherine of Aragon.
17	%%* ''Literature/TheCorneliusChronicles'': Jerry Cornelius' sister Catherine was also his ''[[BrotherSisterIncest lover]]'' and a Lost Lenore to him.
18	* ''Literature/ChroniclesOfTheKencyrath'':
19	** Dual example: Aerulan to Brenwyr, and Kinzi to Adiraina. Both pairs were sister-kin (read: secret lesbian wives) and Aerulan and Kinzi were tragically killed in a RulingFamilyMassacre.
20	** Aerulan's status as a Lenore to Brenwyr is more prominent than Kinzi's to Adiraina. Brenwyr and Aerulan were little more than girls at the time of the massacre. (We don't know exactly how old they were, but probably sometime in late adolescence.) So Aerulan died tragically young, and Brenwyr wasn't old mature enough to be able to cope. Moreover, because Brenwyr was emotionally unstable even ''before'' Aerulan died, and Aerulan was a LivingEmotionalCrutch for her, losing her ''absolutely shattered'' Brenwyr.
21	** Conversely, Kinzi and Adiraina were old women at the time of the massacre. So while Kinzi'd death was still tragic, she and Adiraina got a long life together first. And as an old woman, Adiraina was more mature and better able to handle the loss than Brenwyr was. But it still cut deep.
22	* Creator/MaryHigginsClark occasionally uses this trope, understandably given her books often revolve around murder and other tragedies (she also had some personal experience, having lost her first husband when she was in her thirties):
23	** ''Literature/IHeardThatSongBefore'' has two notable examples:
24	*** Grace Meredith, but not for her husband Peter Carrington, who has managed to move on, but for [[spoiler:family friend Jeffrey Hammond]]. During their first meeting, Nicholas Greco determines from his genuine anguish and anger that he was in love with Grace. Upon confronting him about it, [[spoiler:Jeffrey]] reveals they were having an affair and he intended to leave his wife for her; he's still in love with Grace more so than his living wife, even after four years.
25	*** Annie O'Neil for her husband Jonathan. Her death a few weeks after their daughter was born led to Jonathan becoming an alcoholic out of grief [[spoiler:and it's the reason everyone is so ready to believe Jonathan took his own life [[NeverSuicide when he was in fact murdered]]]].
26	** In ''Literature/NighttimeIsMyTime'', Cadet Carrol Reed Thornton Jr. is this to Jean Sheridan. They began dating when Jean was in her final year of high school and were truly in love despite their young age and having only known each other a few months. Jean regarded him as one of the few bright spots in her life in those days. Unfortunately, he was killed in a hit-and-run accident shortly before she graduated. Jean has [[TheMourningAfter never seriously dated anyone else since]], still gets tearful thinking about Reed sometimes and wonders what their lives would've been like if he'd lived. [[spoiler:In the epilogue, she has finally managed to move on and is now HappilyMarried to Mark]].
27	** ''Literature/TwoLittleGirlsInBlue'': After Theresa disappeared without a trace, her second husband spent seventeen years mourning his loss and clinging to a sliver of hope she might still come back someday, even though in all likelihood she's dead (she appeared to be happy with her life, nor has she ever made contact with any of her friends and family, so running away seems unlikely). It's made worse by the fact she was pregnant with twins at the time she disappeared, so he never knew what happened to their unborn children either. [[spoiler:It's discovered in the end that Theresa's first husband murdered her, with her second husband long having suspected he might be involved, so he may finally have some closure]].
28	* ''Literature/ACourtOfThornsAndRoses'': Lucien's first love, a lesser fae called Jesminda, was killed in front of him by his own family.
29	* Arlova, Rubashov's former secretary in ''Literature/DarknessAtNoon''. Rubashov recalls her in a sisterly light, but the scent of her body lingers with him, as does the curve of her neck, which may have been where she was shot after he made her take the heat for him.
30	-->"You can do what you like with me," Arlova had said, and so he had done.
31	* The reader of ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'' is first introduced to Beatrice as a dead woman who was friends with Dante, whose unrequited love for her motivates him to go through Hell to see her again.
32	* ''Literature/DoctrineOfLabyrinths'':
33	** Ginevra functions as this for Mildmay. Her murder sends his life into disarray and continues to haunt him for years, despite the fact that she'd already left him for another man at the time of her death. He doesn't properly start to move on until he solves the mystery of how and why she died, and begins to acknowledge the person she ''really'' was instead of [[LovingAShadow clinging to his slightly rose-tinted memory of her.]]
34	** For Mildmay and Felix, Methony is the [[MissingMom feckless mother]] who [[ParentalAbandonment sold them into slavery]] and then died before she could offer any explanation, but for Diokletian she absolutely qualifies. He married another woman at some point but openly admits he never loved her that much and is still obsessed with Methony nearly two decades after her death. He even tries to [[ReplacementGoldfish seduce her son]], Felix, because he looks so much like her, despite there being a small chance that he himself is [[IncestantAdmirer Felix's biological father]].
35	* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'':
36	** [[TheHero Harry]] becomes a gender-swapped version of this. After his death in ''Literature/{{Changes}},'' [[spoiler:Murphy]] ''utterly refuses'' to accept that he's gone. (Her MadnessMantra during this time is "They NeverFoundTheBody...he's not dead, I [[SelectiveObliviousness can't]] believe he's dead.") She goes through life as normal, [[KnightInShiningArmor helping others]] and protecting Chicago's community from magical threats, but...something in her has just stopped. [[spoiler:He comes back to life after six months or so, and Murphy is still depressed. It takes her a while to accept that Harry really is alive because she doesn't want her hopes to get dashed again.]] This also applies to Molly as he was her mentor in addition to her giant crush on him.
37	** In the first few books Harry is still affected by the betrayal and death of his first girlfriend, Elaine Malloroy as seen when Michael brings her up at the beginning of Grave Peril and Harry nearly bites his head off. Michael outright states that he was afraid that Harry would never open himself up to love ever again. Later revealed that she did survive, but let him believe her dead and that her betrayal was due to mind control. Only by the time that happens Harry managed to get over it so that he could fall in love with Susan Rodriguez [[spoiler:only for her to promptly become Lost Lenore number two by vampire infection. She survives but her partial transformation renders them unable to continue seeing each other, causing severe depression for years after]]. As of ''Changes'' Harry is forced to personally kill her in order to save their daughter, causing even more angst.
38	* ''Literature/EarthsChildren'':
39	** Wymez's deceased mate and mother of his son Ranec is his Lost Lenore. She died around two decades prior to ''The Mammoth Hunters'' and he clearly still misses her, speaking of her with great affection and sadness; he [[TragicKeepsake keeps a beautiful outfit that she had made in the Aterian style]], the rest of her belongings having been lost at sea along with her. He does ''eventually'' move on [[spoiler: as it's revealed in ''The Land of Painted Caves'' that he mated Tulie]], but it took him a ''long'' time.
40	** In ''The Plains of Passage'', the pregnant teenager Cavoa had attempted to flee the Three Sisters Camp with her boyfriend, but he was caught and killed for trying to escape; Cavoa was only spared because of her pregnancy. She ends up [[SomeoneToRememberHimBy giving birth]] to their [[UntoUsASonAndDaughterAreBorn fraternal twins]].
41	** Joconan is the Lost Lenore to Marthona, his mate, and S'Armuna (formerly known as Bodoa), to whom he was also TheOneThatGotAway.
42	*** It's downplayed for Marthona; although she misses Joconan, she doesn’t dwell on his death anymore (it happened decades before the story begins) and she is now happy with Willomar (she'd previously mated Dalanar too, though their mating didn't work out). It's implied that she threw herself into raising their son and leading the Ninth Cave to cope with his death.
43	*** S'Armuna doesn't learn of his death until years after the fact, though she's shocked and heartbroken as she still has feelings for him and regrets her bitterness towards him and Marthona when Joconan chose Marthona over her. It's now decades too late to make amends with Joconan, though S'Armuna does make amends to Marthona by helping her son.
44	* In ''Literature/EightCousins'', it's all but stated that Rose's late mother - who was also named Rose - is this for Uncle Alec. He was in love with the same woman as his brother George, but Rose Sr. married George instead. Of all the Campbell brothers, Alec alone has never married, and it's heavily implied that he never got over her.
45	* Creator/EdgarAllanPoe is the {{Trope Namer\|s}} with "[[https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48860/the-raven The Raven]]," but this shows up a ''lot'' in his work, reflecting the death of his own wife, Virginia, at age 24. "[[https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44885/annabel-lee Annabel Lee]]" is probably the other big example.
46	* ''Literature/EmpireOfTheVampire'': Astried Rennier for Gabriel de León. What exactly happened to her remains uncertain, and her exact status is left murky due to frequent dreamy visions and hallucinations Gabriel recalls, but it seems safe to say, whatever became of her, she is lost to de León by the present time.
47	* Poke from ''Literature/EndersShadow'' falls under this category, albeit as a platonic love interest due to the characters' young ages.
48	%%* Maria Clara is this to Simoun in ''Literature/ElFilibusterismo''.
49	* In ''Literature/TheFiresStone'', Aaron's cousin, Ruth, was engaged to another man and killed for her affair with Aaron by Aaron's own father, the chief of their clan. He's still deeply traumatized by this and cries out for her in the night.
50	* ''Literature/TheFourteenthGoldfish'': Melvin's wife is this, as he still misses her enough that he's not interested when one of Ellie's new friends starts developing a crush on her.
51	* ''Literature/GoneWithTheWind'': Melanie at the end, to Ashley. Compounding his grief over her is the fact that Ashley never realized how much he loved Melanie and depended on her until it was too late.
52	%%ZCE ** Ellen to everyone in her family, but mostly her husband Gerald.
53	* Lan Wangji in ''Literature/GrandmasterOfDemonicCultivationMoDaoZuShi'' spent thirteen years mourning Wei Wuxian before the latter's FirstEpisodeResurrection.
54	* ''Literature/HarryPotter'' series:
55	** In one instance where the Lenore was never his to begin with, Lily Potter ended up like this for Snape, her [[ChildhoodFriendRomance Unlucky Childhood Friend]]. She became TheOneThatGotAway when she married James, his worst enemy, and for bonus points, she died as an indirect consequence of his actions, informing his Dark Master about the enemies that he would need to dispose of without knowing that she was one of them, leaving him to pick up the pieces of his guilt and regret.
56	** Cedric was this to Cho Chang; she became rather fragile and lonely after he died.
57	* In ''Literature/HeartOfSteel'', the death of one Lauren [=MacKenzie=] hit a certain MIT grad and science nut so hard that he had a psychotic break, reinventing himself as a {{cyborg}} MadScientist named Alistair Mechanus, with no memories of his previous life. When said memories are unlocked late in the novel, the pain is still fresh, almost breaking him again.
58	* Naturally, Literature/HonorHarrington has a few examples.
59	** Paul Tankersley is this to Honor herself. His murder sends her into an emotional tailspin; nearly two decades later and married for ten years to Hamish and Emily Alexander, she's still marked by his death.
60	** Javier Giscard becomes this to Eloise Pritchart after his death at Lovat. Her grief for him is enduring and undeniable and irrevocably changes her as a person from that moment on.
61	* In ''Literature/HowSweetItIs'' by Creator/MelissaBrayden, Molly is still grieving for Cassie, her partner who died four years ago, when she begins to fall in love with Cassie's sister, Jordan. A huge plot point is when [[spoiler:she makes the last of her regular visits to Cassie's grave and cries for her one last time so she can move on with Jordan]].
62	* ''Literature/TheHungerGames'': Katniss' father for her mother, after he was killed in a mining accident. Her mother's resulting TheMourningAfter depression meant that Katniss was forced to step up and become the chief provider for the family.
63	* In Creator/HideyukiKikuchi's ''Literature/InvaderSummer'', the main character's abiding love for his deceased [[SheIsNotMyGirlfriend not-my-girlfriend]] is the only thing which keeps him from falling under the [[MoreThanMindControl spell]] of the titular invader, unlike every other male who sees her.
64	* ''Literature/JaineAustenMysteries'': In ''Death of a Neighborhood Scrooge'', Lance falls for a mailman named Graham. Graham keeps bringing up his lost love Peter, who died before the events of the book. [[spoiler:Peter, as it turns out, was his pet rabbit.]]
65	* In Craig Silvey's young adult novel ''Literature/JasperJones'', Laura Wishart -- the girl with whom Jasper is romantically involved -- dies before the events of the novel begin. This death causes Jasper great pain and becomes the focus of the novel, prompting Jasper to seek the help of the novel's protagonist in evading the police and finding Laura's killer.
66	* ''Literature/JohannesCabal'': The title character turned to {{Necromanc\|er}}y after the love of his life drowned in an accident, sparking the events of the series, and his overriding goal is to [[{{Necromantic}} return her to true life]]. It slips into {{deconstruct\|edTrope}}ion as he's challenged on whether he's doing it for her or for himself, and, given that she goes unnamed until the final book, to what extent he remembers her as a person at all instead of a symbol of the life he left behind and an excuse to [[LoveMakesYouEvil commit villainous acts]]. Ultimately, when he has a chance to resurrect her, he forfeits it to someone else.
67	* ''Literature/KeasFlight'': Shortly after the flight began, Brandon caught his wife Caitlin cheating on him with another woman. The woman was executed for homosexuality, and Caitlin committed suicide. Brandon still desperately misses her. He can't accept that she was gay, and blames her lover for taking advantage of her innocence. In the present day, he becomes fond of Blaro, a teenage girl who [[YouRemindMeOfX resembles Caitlin in both appearance and personality]] and makes him think of the daughter he wanted to have with her. [[spoiler:Blaro even turns out to be a lesbian, like Caitlin. When Brandon finds out, he has her girlfriend Shaun executed in an effort to "protect" Blaro from seduction.]]
68	* The ''Literature/LeaphornAndChee'' series by Creator/TonyHillerman has a mild example. Leaphorn's wife Emma dies of surgical infection in one of the early books. They had been married for decades and Leaphorn never gets over it, thinking of her constantly.
69	* The ballad "Literature/{{Lenore}}" (1773) by Gottfried August Bürger, which is one of the German ballads translated into English most often and was highly influential on various English-speaking writers besides starting a fashion for Gothic ballads in Germany, inverts the pattern: The eponymous heroine is obsessed with her sweetheart Wilhelm, who went off into the UsefulNotes/SevenYearsWar and did not return. She begins to quarrel with God, causing her mother to chide her for her blasphemy. But then one night the dead fiancé returns and asks Lenore to mount up on his horse with him...
70	%%* The titular character's deceased husband in Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/LiseysStory''.
71	* [[MeaningfulName Annabell Leigh]] for Humbert Humbert in ''Literature/{{Lolita}}'', complete with several references to the original poem. The reason H.H. has his [[{{ephebophile}} "tastes"]] is his relationship with her when he was a child and she was a child, which ended in the trope. He falls for Lolita because [[ReplacementGoldfish she looks so much like Annabell]].
72	* In ''Literature/LoyalEnemies'', Tairinn is this to Veres. She was his fellow student at the magic university, they were madly in love with each other, and then he was arrested TakingTheHeat for her and she was killed by a werewolf. He became a monster hunter because of that and even years later, she's the woman he's calling when in a high fever. [[spoiler:Too bad she never loved him, she feigned her death, the werewolf was her accomplice, and she's the villain of the story.]]
73	* ''Literature/TheMarvellousLandOfSnergs'': Joe's mother got sick and died some years before the beginning of the story. Her death drove her husband to drink heavily, which in turn led to him abusing his son until Joe was rescued and brought to the children's colony where he lived his great adventure.
74	* Liam from ''Literature/TheMer'' used to be engaged to a woman named Margaret, but he left her to fight in UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar. During a naval battle he was knocked into the water, drowned, and was transformed into a [[TheAgeless Mer]]. He later tried to reunite with Margaret in defiance of Mer laws, which strictly forbid contact with humans, only for her to flee in horror from the sight of his transformed body. He has spent the last 150 years pining for her. He's dated several Mer women who he thought could take her place, only to [[LovingAShadow cast them aside when they couldn't live up to his idealized memories]].
75	* Cattie-Brie for [[Literature/TheLegendOfDrizzt Drizzt]] in ''Literature/TheNeverwinterSaga''. She dies (along with Regis) due to shock from the magical misfiring of the Spellplauge at the end of ''The Ghost King'' and leaves Drizzt adrift emotionally and spiritually. He finds temporary solace in the arms of the wicked and selfish Dahlia, but he realizes quickly that she can never hold a candle to the spiritual and emotional purity of Cattie-Brie. His recognition of Dahlia's selfishness, unending cynicism, and downright evil malice (practically the polar opposite of Cattie-Brie) is what drives a lot of the animosity and story between Cattie-Brie's death and her resurrection and reunion with Drizzt (along with the rest of the Companions) in ''The Companions Codex''.
76	* ''Literature/NoughtsAndCrosses'': Callum is this for Sephy, after her own father has Callum killed when the pair are only teenagers. Although Sephy eventually has other relationships, their daughter comments that she's always holding part of herself back and it's clear she never truly recovers.
77	%%* In the works of Creator/NicholasSparks:
78	%%** Catherine to Garrett in ''Message in a Bottle.''
79	%%** Missy to Miles in ''A Bend in the Road.''
80	%%** Jo to Alex in ''Literature/SafeHaven.''
81	* Leah Venn is this to her husband in Literature/ObsidianMirror. Her death is what causes him to start experimenting on the mirror.
82	%%* Emily in Creator/JodiPicoult's ''Literature/ThePact''.
83	* In ''Powers That Be'', the first book of Creator/AnneMcCaffrey's ''Literature/{{Petaybee}}'' series, the death of Yana's first husband is suggested to be the reason she joined the [[MegaCorp InterGal's]] military in the first place (which led to the injuries that led her to be shipped to Petaybee, the company's version of a desk job in a podunk town). Her growing feelings for Sean Shongili bring back memories of Husband #1.
84	* Capelo's wife in ''Literature/ProbabilitySun'' by Creator/NancyKress. His enormous rage over her death (killed as a civilian noncombatant by enemy aliens) drives Capelo's interest in the main plot and directly drives an important plot twist.
85	* ''Literature/{{Rebecca}}'' plays with this trope. Rebecca ''seems'' to be this to her widowed husband Maxim, [[spoiler: but it turns out that she was an utterly despicable woman whom he later murdered, and his haunted behavior regarding her death is caused by the strain of having to maintain a façade of devoted mourning and the knowledge that he is unable to be good enough for his innocent young second wife because of this]]. On the other hand, Rebecca ''is'' this trope in LesYay fashion to her onetime nanny and later housekeeper Mrs. Danvers.
86	* In the ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'' series, Luke's murdered wife Sayna is this to him. He even names his ship after her (albeit at the request of their son Martin). He sails away in the ''Sayna'' to find the vermin who killed her and avenge her death. [[spoiler:Laterose]] could also be this to [[spoiler:Martin]], as her death casts a dark shadow over him for the rest of his life.
87	* Anne Neville, the late wife of ''Literature/RichardIIIInThe21stCentury''. He does eventually end up HappilyMarried to mom and brilliant inventor Sarah Levine, but he's never fully over Anne. Sarah, fortunately, understands Richard's grief and does what she can to help him.
88	* In Creator/JackieCollins's ''Literature/{{Santangelo}}'' series, Gino has a version of this. He falls for a woman named something similar to Lenore. She dumps him and he holds a torch for a while, then he falls for her ''daughter'' named Maria. They get married and have two children, then she ends up [[spoiler: being murdered by his Mob rival]].
89	* ''Literature/{{Sandokan}}'': The titular character's dead relatives and Marianna (from ''The Pirates of Malaysia'') are this for Sandokan, who tend to mention both at least once for novel (Marianna even had three ships named after her). Ada Corishant becomes this for Tremal Naik but in a lesser way, as he still has a daughter from her.
90	* In ''Literature/SardHarker'', Don Miguel's entire life is shaped by the misuse and death of his fiancée Senorita Carlotta de Leyva de San Jacinto at the hands of Don Lopez and his men.
91	* In ''Literature/TheSecretGarden,'' Archibald Craven fell into a deep depression when his wife Lilias died, ironically from an accident in the very garden that she loved so much; as a result, he had the garden locked up and now spends most of his time overseas. About 40% through the book we learn some more, namely that Lilias actually died [[spoiler:''[[DeathByChildbirth in childbirth]]'' after the accident, and that their sickly son, Colin, has been neglected and [[SpoiledBrat spoiled]] due to his father's grief]].
92	* Deliciously parodied by Lemony Snicket in ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'' where Beatrice serves as this for the narrator.
93	* In ''Literature/SkateTheThief'', [[spoiler:Alphetta Belamy's death is what drives her husband Petre into a spiral of guilt, causing him to ask for a life sentence in a CrystalPrison.]]
94	* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'':
95	** Lyanna Stark, mourned by her ex-betrothed Robert Baratheon.
96	** Joanna for Tywin Lannister. Her DeathByChildbirth is one of the main reasons [[MaternalDeathBlameTheChild Tywin hates his son Tyrion so much]].
97	** Rhaegar Targaryen for Cersei Lannister. Although the attraction was one-sided, Cersei loved him either way and was devastated by his death. While her incest with Jamie long predated her love for Rhaegar, it would have probably not turned into something serious had her betrothal to Rhaegar been approved, and her children with Jaime (including [[RoyalBrat Joffrey]]) would have probably never been born. Her marriage to Robert, already soured by his continued pining for Lyanna, was further doomed because Cersei never forgave Robert for killing Rhaegar, which, in turn led to the aforementioned deepening relationship with Jaime. In ''Literature/AFeastForCrows'', Cersei's narration makes it clear that she still pines for Rhaegar.
98	** Khal Drogo for Daenerys Targaryen. Although he appears as a living character throughout ''Literature/AGameOfThrones'', he dies at the end of it and as a result is absent for the rest of the series. Drogo takes Daenerys' virginity without resorting to MaritalRapeLicense (which she appreciates), teaches her to come out of her shell after living with an abusive brother for thirteen years, giving her the necessary skills she will need as a politician, and fathers her only human child. By the end of their marriage, Drogo is Daenerys' "sun and stars", and after his death, she thinks that she will probably never fall in love with another man again, much like how she can never have another human child. Daenerys also names her largest dragon after him.
99	* In ''Literature/StarCarrier: Earth Strike'', Admiral Alexander Koenig's lover Admiral Karyn Mendelsson gets all of two scenes before being killed offscreen when the Turusch launch an extreme-range kinetic attack on several objects in the Sol System. For the next two books, Koenig misses her so much that he keeps her image and personality as the avatar for his personal AI.
100	* Tricia Martin for Steven Wakefield in the ''Literature/SweetValleyHigh'' series. He repeatedly treats his new girlfriend Cara like crap because he can't get over her, including ''twice'' cheating on her with girls who resemble her.
101	* ''Literature/ATaleOf'': An ugly side of this trope is seen in ''Cold Hearted'', which is the backstory of [[WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}} Cinderella’s wicked stepmother, Lady Tremaine]]. Cinderella’s father, Richard, married Lady Tremaine for her money, and for her to care for his child. However, he is stilly fiercely loyal to his first wife, whose pictures and possessions he retains long after his second wife moves in. He forbids Cinderella to call Lady Tremaine “Mama”, and declares that his first wife will always be the owner of the house, no matter who else he marries. This loyalty to his first wife’s memory, however, means that Lady Tremaine is treated more as a nanny for his daughter than as a wife and lady of the house, allowed no freedom to do as she wishes.
102	* ''Literature/{{Under Suspicion\|Series}}'' features a few Lost Lenores, given the stories revolve around RevisitingTheColdCase.
103	** Greg is this for main protagonist Laurie. They were HappilyMarried for five years and Laurie always thought they'd be together into their twilight years, only for Greg to be murdered in broad daylight while visiting a playground with their son. Even after Greg's murder is finally solved and his killer is dead, Laurie is understandably still deeply affected by his death; although she develops feelings for Alex Buckley, she's unsure if she's ready to let go of Greg just yet...or ever. His death also affects Laurie professionally; she easily empathises with people who have lost loved ones to violence and are desperate for answers, and she sees ''Under Suspicion'' as a way to help people find those answers and some sense of closure.
104	** In ''Literature/IveGotYouUnderMySkin'', the murder victim Betsy is the Lenore for her husband Robert, who freely admits he has [[TheMourningAfter never gotten over her death]] and still regards the years they were married as the happiest of his life. He willingly agrees to appear on ''Under Suspicion'', lets the crew film in his home and provides a substantial amount of money to convince Claire, Nina, Alison and Regina to take part, all so he can have a chance at finding out who killed Betsy. Given that Robert has been diagnosed with terminal illness, he knows this is his last opportunity to pin down a culprit. [[spoiler:When he discovers Jane killed Betsy, he personally murders her to avenge his wife]]. Notably, almost everyone else - even including Betsy's daughter Claire - ''don't'' treat her death as a tragedy given what a [[AssholeVictim horrible person she was]].
105	** In ''Literature/TheCinderellaMurder'', two fellow students were in love with Susan in college and continue to be deeply affected by her death.
106	*** Despite his poor treatment of her, her then-boyfriend Keith appeared genuinely heartbroken over her murder; he says he regrets the way he treated her and he was so torn up he dropped out of college, then threw himself into his acting career and into making himself a better person, especially via his involvement with Advocates for God. Madison recalls that the day he learned she'd agreed to star in ''Beauty Land'' - the movie Susan intended to audition for prior to her death - Keith turned up at her room drunk and berated her for being willing to work with Frank Parker, the man who "killed my Susan", and permanently broke off their affair. Keith vocally resents that people really think he could've killed Susan and that his reaction was because of a guilty conscience or an attempt to throw off suspicion. [[spoiler:Keith is [[BrokenPedestal pretty upset]] when he learns Advocates for God is one big scam and, worse yet, that Reverend Collins - whom he credited with helping him through his grief over Susan - is a child abuser; he's only too willing to help the police bust Collins and then publicly spill the beans on the church]].
107	*** Dwight was enamoured with Susan in college and still regards her as [[TheMourningAfter the only woman he ever fell in love with]]. He was never confident enough to tell her of his feelings and she was oblivious despite everyone else finding it obvious, plus she already had a boyfriend (even though he mistreated her). Dwight was devastated when she was murdered and is determined to help uncover who did it, to the point of spying on the production crew and the other participants. [[spoiler:Dwight discovers who the killer is first, but unfortunately this gets him killed too]].
108	** In ''Literature/TheSleepingBeautyKiller'', Hunter is the Lost Lenore for his fiancee Casey, who is adamant she was [[MiscarriageOfJustice wrongly convicted]] of killing him. She insists that she was deeply in love with him and still mourns him; she says that while part of her motive for appearing on ''Under Suspicion'' is to clear her own name, she also desperately wants to find the person who actually killed Hunter so her fiance can finally have justice.
109	** In ''Literature/EveryBreathYouTake'', Virginia is this for Ivan, her would-be fiance. Laurie initially thinks he cares more about clearing his name and that he possibly killed Virginia himself, but he insists he genuinely loved Virginia and is still torn up by her death three years later, even if he doesn't always show this openly. [[spoiler:Laurie comes to realise his grief is genuine]]. He often reminisces about Virginia and the life they could've had together, with the situation being worsened by the fact he's suspected of killing her, [[spoiler:wrongly as it turns out]].
110	%%* ''Literature/TheVirginSuicides'' by Creator/JeffreyEugenides. Times seven.
111	* In ''Literature/WarriorCats'':
112	** Spottedleaf to the main character Fireheart. After being killed in the first book, she serves as something of a SpiritAdvisor for him (and later his descendants), and his ongoing feelings for her make him unaware of Sandstorm's affection for him until Cinderpelt [[EveryoneCanSeeIt tells him outright]]. Even then, it takes Spottedleaf giving her blessing ''twice'' before he feels free to love Sandstorm and be sure that he's not "betraying" his love for Spottedleaf.
113	** Graystripe's mate Silverstream: after a short [[StarCrossedLovers forbidden]] romance, she [[DeathByChildbirth dies while giving birth to his kits]]. He leaves [=ThunderClan=] for a while to raise their kits in her Clan, [=RiverClan=], which has a big impact on his best friend Fireheart. Although Silverstream's death affects Graystripe for a long time, he eventually does find love again a few years later between the second and third series, and Silverstream herself supports the new relationship as it means he's happy again.
114	* ''Literature/TheWickedYears'':
115	** Fiyero for Elphaba, after being killed by the Gale Force.
116	** WordOfGod is Glinda had feelings for Elphaba. After her death, Glinda is portrayed as quite distraught over Elphaba.
117	%%* Ankaa for Virgil in ''Literature/WithinRuin''.
118	* Susan Delgado in ''Literature/WizardAndGlass''. Roland continues to mourn for her throughout the remainder of ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' series, and her memory is also a significant part of the Marvel prequels.
119	* Cathy Earnshaw to both Heathcliff and Edgar Linton in the second half of ''Literature/WutheringHeights''.
120	* Creator/HenrikWergeland wrote a sweet variation of this after he got HappilyMarried to Amalie Sofie. In this poem, he reminisces about a girl he once loved, long dead, who suddenly appears to him, presenting herself as "Yours and hers angel", set to keep an eye on them to secure their happiness. A sweeter solution to the trope can hardly be found.
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Context TheLostLenore / Literature