“Does such a thing as the fatal flaw, that showy dark crack running down the middle of a life, exist outside literature? I used to think it didn’t. Now I think it does. And I think that mine is this: a morbid longing for the picturesque at all costs.” - Donna Tartt, The Secret History

The Secret History is a psychological fiction novel published in 1992 and written by Donna Tartt, who dedicated 10 years to writing and perfecting the novel. Tartt is rarely in the public eye and only shows up to publish a new book. She wrote The Little Friend and The Goldfinch

Tartt’s debut novel, The Secret History, is based in 1984 Vermont and is narrated by our unreliable narrator, Richard Papen, who recounts the story of his time as a 20-year-old student at Hampden College. There he meets a group of eccentrics, pretentious, and intelligent students who rope him into the eccentricities of their lives, resulting in the murder of Bunny Corcoran, who is one of their classmates. The plot is fascinating – a murder mystery including a group of classic Greek students.

The writing of the novel is phenomenal and (other than the genius of Donna Tartt), is much to do with the chosen character to tell the story, as he brilliantly manipulates readers into siding with, him and the Greek class. Richard sees the characters through a romanticised lens, and so, tells the undoubtedly morbid and unforgiving story in an almost rational way. The characters are immensely interesting and complex, but objectively terrible people. However, reading the story through Richard’s admiring eye, each character seems rational, especially the objective villain Henry Winter, the reader could find themselves asking, “What else was he to do but murder Bunny?” That’s what Richard believes, and so the reader falls down the rabbit hole with him.

What's especially interesting about this book is that it is not told in the classic murder-mystery way of whodunnit. The questions of who was killed and who did it are answered in the first few paragraphs of the prologue. The mystery of the book is how did the narrator, a seemingly normal and quite lonely 20-year-old from Plano, California, end up an accomplice to murder in one of the most prestigious colleges in the country? The answer to this question is a troubling, yet interesting one and is a fascinating read.

Book Review: The Secret History