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Donna Tartt has become one of those must-read and must-discuss authors ever since she published her debut novel, The Secret History, in 1992, and it went straight to the bestseller list, where it stayed for three months.
It’s a book that she says she didn’t expect there to be much of an audience for, but it turned out that both literary critics and the general public loved it.
The Secret History is still a widely read book. For example, as of this writing, there are almost 95,000 people who are currently reading it on Goodreads. By comparison, Cormac McCarthy’s All the Pretty Horses, which was published the same year, currently has about 8,000 readers.
Tartt’s books are considered modern classics.
One of Tartt’s unique qualities is that she takes a long time to write her books. There is about a 10-year gap between each of her books. (Given that her last novel was published in 2013, I guess that means we’re due for a new novel any day now!)
At least when Tartt finally publishes a book, it’s a nice, long book you can sink your teeth into. I think it would be more disappointing if it were some 300-page number that would fly by way too fast.
Tartt is also known for being aggressively private and doing very few interviews. If you do some looking, you will find some (and they are worth watching), but they are always aligned with when she was promoting one of her books.
As a result, she hasn’t really done an interview since The Goldfinch was published in 2013.
Even though I’ve known about Tartt for several years, it wasn’t until this year that I finally decided to take the plunge into one of her books when I decided to read The Goldfinch. I will explain more about my reading experience below, but after reading that book, I definitely plan to read more of Tartt’s books.
One of the things I really liked about Tartt’s writing is that it’s very real and raw. Tartt isn’t trying to paint some sort of sanitized view of the world. She’s giving you the real deal. Because of this, her characters also seem very real.
Enough of the back story, let’s dive into Donna Tartt’s books!
Donna Tartt’s Books in Order
01
The Secret History (1992)
The Secret History is not only Tartt’s debut novel, but many credit this book for being the first in the Dark Academia genre. The Secret History tells the story of a group of students in a Classics department at a small liberal arts college in Vermont in the 1980s. (I was a Classics major in college, and I am very intrigued by this premise.) What could go wrong with students who want to read Cicero and Plato in the original Greek and Latin?
It is told through the character of Richard. While most of the students come from affluent families, Richard does not. Richard is attending the college on scholarship, and he decides to make up details about his life back in California so he can fit in. There is also a popular professor who treats his students as if they are part of a secret society. Four of the students decide to reenact a Dionysian rite, as you might read about in Greek Tragedy, and that’s when things take a turn for the worse. We find out in the prologue that one of the students from this exclusive group is dead, and these students murdered him.
Many describe this book as a modern-day Greek tragedy, and I don’t think that’s an accident, as Tartt says that she was significantly influenced The Bacchae, which is a Greek Tragedy written by Euripides. Readers also describe the book as incredibly immersive and a unique reading experience. Out of all of Tartt’s books, this one definitely has a bit of a cult following and is still widely read today.
- Book Length: 559 pages
- Audiobook Length: 22 hours 3 minutes
- Genre: Dark Academia, Mystery
- Pub Year: 1992
Where to Buy:
02
The Little Friend (2002)
The Little Friend tells the story of Harriet Cleve Dusfresnes. She is a 12-year-old girl living in a small Mississippi town. There is a shadow that hangs over Harriet’s family: when she was a baby, her brother was murdered and hung from a tree in their front yard. The killer was never found, and this is a tragedy the family has never gotten over. Harriet, along with her friend Hely, decides they are going to solve her brother’s murder.
However, they are not prepared for the darkness they are about to face. While there is a mystery that the main character is trying to solve, readers say this book is much more than the typical mystery novel with a tidy ending. Rather, this book is about Harriet and the quest she is on, the Mississippi town she lives in, and the racial tension that exists there in a town that was recently desegregated. In an interview, Tartt said that in many ways the character of Harriet is based on herself as a child. For example, in the book, Harriet loves books by Rudyard Kipling, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and these are types of books that she loved as a child as well.
- Book Length: 624 pages
- Audiobook Length: 25 hours 53 minutes
- Genre: Mystery, Literary Fiction, Historical Fiction
- Pub Year: 2002
Where to Buy:
03
The Goldfinch (2013)
This was the first book I read by Tartt, and it left me in a serious book hangover. This book is about Theo Decker, and the story is a first-person narrative told through Theo. At age thirteen, Theo is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC with his mother when it is hit with a terrorist attack. The attack killed his mother. Given that his father left the family months earlier and is nowhere to be found, this leaves him orphaned.
Before leaving the museum, and before he knows his mother is dead, a dying man lying next to Theo gives him a ring to take to his business partner and tells him to take the painting “The Goldfinch” by the Dutch painter Carel Fabritius. This event, along with the painting he brings with him, drives the rest of the story. While several heroes rise to the occasion in Theo’s life, some opportunists try to take advantage of his vulnerable situation. While his mother’s death never leaves him, Theo ends up developing several relationships that are formative for him, for good or for ill. This is a story about survival, friendship, heroes and villains, and the immortal nature of art.
Why did I start with this book? While I knew The Secret History was the most popular of Tartt’s books, the reviews of The Goldfinch were a bit more mixed. This made me want to see for myself what I thought of it. For me, it was a hit. I will add that I listened to this one on audio, and I thought it was very well done.
Read my full review of The Goldfinch here.
- Book Length: 771 pages
- Audiobook Length: 32 hours 24 minutes
- Genre: Literary Fiction
- Pub Year: 2013
Where to Buy:
Short Stories by Donna Tartt
Tartt has a handful of short stories. I was happy to find that you can read most of these for free.
Other Works Tartt is Connected To
Something I discovered (almost by accident) is that Tartt has been involved in a few other works in recent years.
Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice by J. F. Martel
Donna Tartt did not write this book, but she wrote the introduction to it. This seems very timely with AI becoming increasingly ubiquitous.
Here’s a summary from the publisher: “In Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice, J. F. Martel offers a compelling and incisive meditation on the nature of art in a world dominated by invasive media, rampant consumer culture, and artificial intelligence. ”
True Grit by Charles Portis
Donna Tartt is the audiobook narrator for True Grit. I recently learn about this from an Ann Patchett video. According to Patchett, Tartt even auditioned for the role; it wasn’t just given to her.
As of this writing, this audiobook is FREE if you have an Audible account. I’ve already added it to my library. I will report back and let you all know how it is.
Donna Tartt FAQs
Do you have to read Donna Tartt’s books in order?
No, you do not have to read Donna Tartt’s books in order. None of Tartt’s books are connected in any way, so there is no prescribed order they need to be read.
What genre are Donna Tartt’s books?
While some novels are clearly a mystery (think Agatha Christie) or romance (think Abby Jimenez),Tartt’s books are a bit more difficult to nail down. I would say they fall under a variety of genres: literary fiction, thriller, mystery, dark academia, and coming of age fiction.
Will Donna Tartt release a new book soon?
I don’t know about you, but I’m definitely on a Donna Tartt book watch. Given that it’s been more than 10 years since The Goldfinch was published, I predict we will see a new book from her within the next year.
Which Donna Tartt book should you start with?
Given that none of her books are part of a series, you can start with whichever one interests you the most.
What authors are similar to Donna Tartt?
If you like Tartt’s writing style and you are looking for authors with a similar style, these are the books that give a similar vibe:
- Liz Moore (author of The God of the Woods and Long Bright River)
- Kazuo Ishiguro (author of Never Let Me Go and The Remains of the Day)
- Tana French (author of In the Woods and The Likeness)
Have you read any Donna Tartt’s books? Which one is your favorite.
