The Secret History by Donna TarttRead about the other entries on the list.
“Write what you know” is a piece of advice often given to aspiring authors, and that’s essentially what American novelist Donna Tartt did in her wildly successful debut. The four years that Tartt spent at Bennington College, a private liberal arts school in Vermont, were formative for the creation of The Secret History—even though Tartt has since denied that Hampden College, the fictional liberal arts institution in the book, is based off it.
The novel follows a group of six students whose lives are devastated by a murder. Tartt makes use of an unconventional narrative structure to add extra layers of intrigue, with the story told from a viewpoint dated years after the shocking event. This allows for reflection on both the aftermath of it and the social dynamics of the college. Despite several near-misses, The Secret History has yet to be adapted for film—a pity, as the evocative setting and intricate relationships captured in this tome would surely make for some rich cinema.
The Secret History is among Ali Lowe's six best campus crime novels, Edwin Hill's six perfectly alluring academic mysteries, a top ten Twinkies in fiction, Kate Weinberg's five top campus novels, Emily Temple's twenty best campus novels, and Ruth Ware's top six books about boarding schools.
--Marshal Zeringue
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