The Secret History

· Hachette UK
4.4
121 reviews
Ebook
544
Pages

About this ebook

A 'haunting, compelling, and brilliant'(The Times) novel about a group of students who, under the influence of their professor find their lives changed forever, by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Goldfinch

Truly deserving of the accolade 'modern classic', Donna Tartt's novel is a remarkable achievement - compelling and elegant, dramatic and playful.

Under the influence of their charismatic Classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality, their lives are changed profoundly and for ever as they discover how hard it can be to truly live and how easy it is to kill.

'A haunting, compelling, and brilliant piece of fiction ... Packed with literary allusion and told with a sophistication and texture that owes much more to the nineteenth century than to the twentieth' -The Times

Ratings and reviews

4.4
121 reviews
A Google user
June 9, 2018
As a student of ancient history and a lover of beautiful (but non-literary) writing, this has remained a favourite book for many years. The dreamy, gorgeous prose, quirky characters and gentle satire sustain the first (and slower) part of the novel. The tension is skillfully built in the second half, as plans unravel, illusions are shattered, and the nastier sides of human nature surface. A unique book which is great fun to read.
5 people found this review helpful
Selina Abigail
November 17, 2015
Quite possibly the most thought provoking book I've read in a while. Stays with you for a long time..
6 people found this review helpful
Priya Sanghamitra
March 15, 2023
Absolutely gripping read! Donna makes you engrossed in every character. She is a genius happened to Dark Academia!

About the author

Donna Tartt is an American author who has achieved critical and public acclaim for her novels, which have been published in forty languages. Her first novel, The Secret History, was published in 1992. In 2003 she received the WH Smith Literary Award for her novel, The Little Friend, which was also nominated for the Orange Prize for Fiction. She won the Pulitzer Prize and the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Fiction for her most recent novel, The Goldfinch.

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