The people who connect with 'The Secret History' are passionate about it - it’s not a book for everyone but the responses to it, for better or worse, are seldom lukewarm. I’m thrilled with how the book continues to resonate with readers - I couldn’t have wished for anything better. Story continues Questions from readers Did you imagine, back then, the impact the book would have?

On one level, the tasks that have fallen to me since publishing the book have almost zero to do with the factors that that enabled me to write the book in the first place, but I’ve had a life filled with travel (the book has been published in 40 languages) and it’s been more than wonderful to have a following and the freedom to write what I want. How has your life changed since the book was published?

I’ve also loved hearing from young people who have been inspired to study Classics after reading the book. I’ve had some moving letters from people in prison. If the book keeps someone company during a difficult time in their lives, I’m happy. For me, writing a novel doesn’t feel like an address to an audience so much as a direct interaction with one other person - the solitary person who pulls the book off a shelf and reads it, whoever that happens to be - so I’m less concerned with the broader impact of the book than with how it reverberates in the lives of individual readers. Questions from Jenna What has the response of the book over the past 30 years meant to you?ĭonna Tartt: I love that it’s meant something to people - that readers have not only enjoyed wandering around in the imaginal space of the book but have kept returning to it. Below, Tartt answers a few of them, sourced from Read With Jenna members and Jenna herself. I feel like this is the type of book that needs to be reread every 10, 20, 30 years,” Jenna tells .Īfter 30 years, readers like Jenna have racked up quite a few questions. “With a book as layered as ‘The Secret History,’ there’s going to be new revelations every time you read it. Jenna selected Donna Tartt's debut novel, and veritable modern classic, for the last Read With Jenna pick of 2022. ' The Secret History' was published 30 years ago - and ever since, fans have been looking for a follow-up that delivers the same intoxicating blend of mystery, mythology, tight-knit friend groups and unreliable narrators.

The secret history by donna tartt