The Secret History by Donna Tartt review

The Secret History by Donna Tartt.

The Secret History starts with a murder, specifically the murder of a young man by his friends. It then back-tracks some months previous to Richard Papen – the protagonist as well as one of the murderers, moving to university and meeting the murdered student, nick-named Bunny, as well as the misfit group of outcasts he was a part of. This is the novel’s hook. It is this small prologue that convinced me my money was spent not only on size, but also on quality.

I had to know why he was killed.

As Richard slowly assimilates into the group, and as we meet each of the eclectic and unusual members of it, as well as Bunny, who is introduced as just another character, I was powerfully interested in knowing how a story could possibly progress from typical college camaraderie, to cold-blooded murder.

As a long story short, it was really, really good. The novel does a fantastic job of picking you up, and sweeping you along for the ride, because all the way up to the murder of an innocent man, I didn’t question it for a second.

I strongly recommend any reader with some time to invest in a good book to check it out.

I’m going to end this review with a quick story. I buy Penguin Classics all the time, because they’re cheap, and because they’re everywhere, but mostly because they’re cheap. As I looked at the range for sale the other day, it suddenly occurred to me that if every book in the classics range is the same price – $10, then obviously the most economical move is to buy the thickest one there, to try and get the most value for my money.

It is this weird thought process that culminated in me buying a book I’d never heard of, by an author I’d never come across.