Donna Tartt’s 1992 novel, The Secret History , is the blueprint for dark academia books, having spawned countless imitations that attempt to replicate the sinister and strange that lurks in higher education.
Donna Tartt’s 1992 novel, The Secret History , is the blueprint for dark academia books, having spawned countless imitations that attempt to replicate the sinister and strange that lurks in higher education. Set at a prestigious liberal arts college in Vermont, the novel follows scholarship student Richard as he falls deeper and deeper into a cultlike clique of trust-fund babies and the charismatic Ancient Greek professor they idolize. Come for the thrilling elements of obsession and murder; stay for the clever storytelling and stunning prose.