The Secret History by Donna Tartt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I had tried to read [b:The Little Friend|775346|The Little Friend|Donna Tartt|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327936589s/775346.jpg|1808852] many years ago and couldn't get into it, but when Tartt won the Pulitzer for [b:The Goldfinch|17333223|The Goldfinch|Donna Tartt|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1378710146s/17333223.jpg|24065147], I wanted to give her another try. I ended up really enjoying this book.
The story follows six students who attend a small liberal arts college in Vermont. While one of them is from a middle-class family from rural California, the others are rich and raised with trust funds and prep school. What brings them together is an obscure Greek curriculum taught by an eccentric professor. Early in the book, you find out that one of them dies, and the rest of the book sets up the circumstances of his death. The book is told in first person from the less well-off student.
I don't remember a book that I've read recently that was so...taut emotionally. Even though I knew how the book would end - or at least what the defining event was - I was nervous for the characters as everything was happening. I also found many (if not all) of the characters extremely dislikable, but the book surprisingly compelling.
I'll give it a few months, then get into the Goldfinch.
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