The Secret History

A Read with Jenna Pick

By: Donna Tartt

Narrated by: Donna Tartt

Length: 22 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

A READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK • INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • A contemporary literary classic and "an accomplished psychological thriller... absolutely chilling" (Village Voice), from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Goldfinch.

Under the influence of a charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at a New England college discover a way of thought and life a world away from their banal contemporaries. But their search for the transcendent leads them down a dangerous path, beyond human constructs of morality.

“A remarkably powerful novel [and] a ferociously well-paced entertainment.... Forceful, cerebral, and impeccably controlled.”—The New York Times

©2023 Penguin Random House Audio (P)2023 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"A beautifully written story, well-told, funny, sad, scary, and impossible to leave alone until I finished. . . . What a debut!"—John Grisham

"Powerful . . . Enthralling . . . A ferociously well-paced entertainment."—The New York Times

"An accomplished psychological thriller . . . Absolutely chilling . . . Tartt has a stunning command of the lyrical."—The Village Voice

I feel wounded by the narration.

I’m so glad I read The Goldfinch first, followed by The Little Friend, and THEN this one. As I have an hour commute, each way, every day, I’m dependent on audio books to keep me sane. The Goldfinch lives in me, haunts me, and always will. But if I’d chosen to do Donna Tartt in order, I’d have listened to the first ten pages of Secret History, and returned it for a refund. I’m honestly not sure if it was a good book…it was so utterly destroyed by the narration. I’ve experienced many audiobooks where I didn’t think I’d like the narrator, but I stuck with it and ultimately found I didn’t notice anymore the annoyances I found in the beginning. But this…this was excruciatingly stabbing me in the ears all the way to the final page. When I saw the author was reading it herself, I raised an eyebrow, but I genuinely WANTED it to be good. I wanted to like her, to find her comforting, to hear her tell her own story masterfully…but no. I refuse to let this change the way I feel about her other books, but I’m afraid this one is eternally tainted.

Love Donna Tarts writing

Slow start but worth the wait, I absolutely love Tart and her character development is unparalleled.

Novel has seemingly aged poorly

Tartt’s revelation at the book’s opening, that the main character’s have murdered a friend, is all that keeps the story moving forward. In another work this might have been enough. But in a 20-hour work of unlikeable characters, knowing they will eventually kill the least likeable among them, the story drags far too often. There’s little reason to sympathize with anyone and completing the work, with Tartt’s own inexperienced voice narrating characters that lack the unique qualities needed to make them stand apart, was a major struggle.
After enjoying the Goldfinch, this supposedly superior debut work was extremely disappointing.

Layered Storytelling. Wonderful!

Wonderful winding story almost dreamlike. Loved hearing this story read by the author. Nothing better. Highly recommend listening again and again.

Brilliant

A great book. I just couldn’t get through the audiobook version - I appreciate the author reading her own text, but it made me lose the voice of the characters.

Beautiful book.

I have struggled with breaking into things I call more “serious” books because I have been petrified of death my whole life. This book seems like it would be a bad choice, then. However I actually found it very comforting.

Donna tartt does a great job reading her writing, and her voice for bunny is odd but you get used to it.

I don’t know if I will ever read this again, maybe on a rainy day in some time. But this first reading was lovely. I’m so full of gratitude for the person who showed me this book, and for it coming into my life.

Donna is a goddess

I loved everything about it. Made me feel like I was in a season of American Horror Story circa 2014.

Compelling story & superb writing

I really enjoy Donna Tartt’s command of the English language. And although I was hesitant at first to like her own voice as the narrator, I really liked it in the end. Her writing gives such a wonderful sense of place filled with details that make it all come to life. She creates full body characters so clearly that after a while you feel like you know them. The events in the book are so horrific all the while the characters
go along like they are solving day to day problems and not dealing with the Murder of two innocent lives.
Then the unraveling begins. It is a visceral descent . And weeks after I finished this book
I am haunted by all that has happened and all that human beings are capable of.

An interesting book

An interesting, if not lengthy, novel detailing the events leading up to a surprising murder. The Dark Academia aspect of this book is palpable, and despite it being long-winded at times, it is a great book.

Dark academia

Interesting story about six students in a small New England college, murder and the aftermath. I did not like the narrator’s voice. I enjoyed the book more when I had time to just read it instead of listening to it.