On the surface, The Secret History is a complex and layered mystery novel about a group of New England college students who meet in their classics program. However, after reading the 1992 literary fiction classic, through its themes of manipulation, greed, and facade, we learn how it’s much deeper than that. From page 1, Tartt sets an eery tone to the novel that is woven throughout all 559 pages. This book has been raved about for years now and rightfully so due to the exceptional storytelling, word-choice, and character development. In addition, it’s an interesting experience to follow the characters as they “go beyond the boundaries of normal morality”. It also begs the questions, “How do you define what is and isn't moral?” and “Are unmoral actions warranted if the situation is bad enough?”. It’s true that people are only able to form opinions based on the facts given to them. So what do you do when the person sharing doesn’t have the whole truth? Or what if they’re leaving out details on purpose?
This book wasn't spoiled for me, so you can imagine my surprise towards the last quarter of the book when the major scenes (office and motel) unfold. I wont go into detail for the sake of spoilers, but the scenes were so well done that I truly didn’t know what would happen or how the characters would respond. Equally as important, Tartt was able to have 6 main characters (and many important secondary characters) that were well developed and unique without there being any confusion. In my opinion, nothing was rushed or out of place. If something felt off in the moment, we were slowly revealed details and hidden pieces showing “why” it was necessary. In moments when I thought I had a grip on the story, scenes would take place that had me question everything I thought I knew.
To truly understand the depth of this story, I think this book will take a few re-reads. Especially after reading others reviews, I feel like there are many details that can only be caught if you’ve read it before. Having a few chapters from the other characters perspective would be interesting as well. At the end of the day, what I would really love is a chapter by chapter breakdown from Donna herself. From this book alone you can tell how smart, thoughtful, and detailed she is. I look forward to reading more of her work soon.
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