It also managed the publishing holy grail of appealing to readers across the literary and commercial fiction genres. Tartt’s talent also jumped off the page, and she expertly combined a tantalising plot, the evergreen appeal of the campus novel and the arcane attractions of Greek myth, making The Secret History a defining book for Generation X - and now a source of fascination for Generation Z. Adding to the clamour surrounding the book, The Secret History was dedicated to Tartt’s former classmate at Bennington, Bret Easton Ellis, who the previous year had published the equally hyped American Psycho, which attracted huge controversy and sales to match. One of the most hyped debut novelists of her era, The Secret History was published when she was only 28 but was reportedly eight years in the making.Ī graduate of the prestigious Bennington College in Vermont, an obvious inspiration for the book’s Hampden College, she received a $450,000 advance for the book, which she earned and then some. The major one is the mystique which continues to surround Tartt, the coolly hip and poised Mississippi native with a bob as razor-sharp as her intellect. In the broadest of terms, it can be described as a nostalgia-fuelled genre and aesthetic strong on scholarly pursuits and boarding school chic with a gothic edge (the movie Dead Poet’s Society is another mainstay).Ī number of factors have contributed to the book’s enduring popularity. This has been driven mainly by the ‘dark academia’ sub-culture which the book epitomises.
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