In trying to decide what things I like best in a book, I've decided that passion is one of them.  By passion I mean like an intensity... but not like romance, cuz I don't like romance novels.  For example, two of my favorite books are The Count of Monte Cristo and Wuthering Heights.  One is a passion in revenge and vengeance and is very smart.  The other is an intense love/hate between two people that spans a lifetime. 

What other books are there with this similar trait?  Contemporary or classic.

A Long Fatal Love Chase by Louisa May Alcott.  Not the best book, and it builds to a climax that's very confusing because it wasn't really finished before her death.  But it's about an abusive ex-lover (husband, maybe? can't remember) hunting down the main character.

I know I'm overlooking some more obvious ideas, but they aren't popping out of my mind at the moment.

OK, thought of something: I just finished Mysteries of Winterthurn by Joyce Carol Oates.  The passionate love interest isn't the main focus, but it's definitely a complicated, weird one that lasts the span of the 500-page book.  Oh, and Possession by A.S. Byatt also has something of this theme because the modern-day protagonists are still focused on a relationship from the past.

Edited again to add:  How could I forget about The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton?

Thanks!  Those sound like exactly what I'm looking for!

Oh!  Possession is the book that the movie was based on with Gwyneth Paltrow!  I didn't know it was a book first.  I also don't remember what it was about but I remember I realllly liked the movie.

As for The Age of Innocence, I think I may have read part of that in high school maybe?  I know I wrote  a paper about Edith Wharton.  I don't remember it at all though.

Also, Gone with the Wind and Lolita might be ideas.

I still feel like there are some better suggestions, but my brain isn't clicking.

You've given me a lot already!  I love Gone with the Wind.  Lolita is one I've added to my reminder list.  I wasn't sure what it was about but I wanted to read it before reading Reading Lolita in Tehran.

I really liked Possession the movie, too, but I liked the book better.  I thought that the male main character was more believable (more fleshed out).

The Age of Innocence is about a guy named Newland Archer who is supposed to marry a nice society girl but is drawn to a bohemian-type countess and has to choose.

How about House of Mirth by Edith Wharton.  Kind of sad, but has that intensity, I think. 

I have 2 suggestions for you.  First, A Simple Plan by Scott Smith.  I couldn't put this book down.  Far from a romance of any kind, it's about one man's obsessive and crazy passion to get to keep a big pile of money he finds.   Loved it!!

I also recommend The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain.  Don't be turned off by the title, as I was (for some reason, the title has always bugged and baffled me).  Yes, it's about two passionate people having a torrid fling, but it's dark and "noir" and just a very readable page-turner.   It is in NO WAY a romance.   I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

I hope so.  Happy reading!

If you are looking for something more recent try The Shadow of the Wind  by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.  It is a mystery made for a booklover.  Taking place in 1945ish Barcelona.  I read it within a few days while visiting a friend.  When I finished all I could do was put it down and say "wow". 

If you like Arthurian Legend stuff, The Mists of Avalon by Maion Zimmer Bradley is a great read. 

Historical fiction I recommend The Pillars of the Earth by Follett.

I know there are others that I have read but at themoment I'm drawing a blank.

I do agree that Wharton writes very passionate books, and you can't go wrong with classics like Postman, Lolita, and Gone with the Wind.

Thank you so much everyone!  They all sound great!

You also might try Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I can't believe I'm actually recommending this book because I have serious problems with its philosophy, but there's no doubt it's about passion and being true to it.  And it was much easier to read than I thought.

No Country for Old Men I recommend without qualification.  It's got plenty of adventure and intensity, and though the relationships between people do not have the centrality that they do in a book like Wuthering Heights, there is an inescapability to them.

Edited to add:  The Hunchback of Notre Dame.  Maybe this is the one I've been trying to think of all along!

You know, I had always heard of Atlas Shrugged but never knew what it was until recently.  I think I may have added it to my RL or WL.  Sounds interesting.

The Telegraph has a story about the 50 greatest villains in literature.  There's probably some good overlap with passionate stories.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/09/20/bovillains120.xml