The Secret History
The Secret History is a 1992 novel by Donna Tartt. It takes readers to Vermont in 1982. Characters include Richard Papen, Henry Winter and Bunny Corcoran. Key subjects include college students, teacher-student relationships, classicists and murder.
Open Library readers give it an average of 4.0 out of 5 from 90 ratings, and 1,795 more have it on their want-to-read list. It has been published in 54 editions across 10 languages. It appeared on the New York Times Trade Fiction Paperback bestseller list in 2013.
At about 608 pages, most readers finish it in 11–12 hours.
About The Secret History
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 they slip gradually from obsession to corruption and betrayal, and at last - inexorably - into evil.
Awards & lists
- 📰New York Times bestseller list — Trade Fiction Paperback, 2013
Quick answers
Who wrote The Secret History?
The Secret History was written by Donna Tartt and first published in 1992.
How long is The Secret History?
The median edition has 608 pages, about 11–12 hours of reading at 250 words per minute.
What books are similar to The Secret History?
Readers who like it often enjoy The Maidens, The Vanishing Stair (Truly Devious Book 2) and If We Were Villains.
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