The Secret History (1992) (edit title/settings)

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Characters/People edit see section history

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• Richard Papen: Add a description of this character.
• Henry Winter: The blue-eyed polymath Henry suffered a severe physical accident as a child which led to his bookish manner. Conversant in numerous tongues, he is also a deceptively physical presence. The son of a wealthy property/construction magnate, Henry wants for nothing and his knowledge far surpasses that required for the programme he is enrolled in at Hampden College. Henry's inner-desire for the sublime sets the chain of the novel's narrative events into motion.
• Julian Morrow: The charismatic and charming Julian is the Professor of the small group of students at the centre of the novel. A minor society figure of apparently vast personal wealth, his background mirrors that of his favourite student, Henry. Like the young people he surrounds himself with, Julian sets himself apart from the university community. Julian's elitism is quickly evident though his integrity remains undetermined for much of the novel.
• Bunny Corcoran: The youngest of four all-American New England sons of a banker, Bunny is an outwardly affable fellow and the closest friend to Henry, with whom he casts a striking contrast. Bunny's jovial character hides a strong vindictive streak from which not even his friends and class-mates are exempt.
• Charles and Camilla Macauley: Twins Charles and Camilla were orphaned from a very young age when their parents died in a car accident and were subsequently raised by a succession of relatives. Blond-haired, blue-eyed and frequently dressed in all white, they are of conspicuous appearance and the freindliest members of the group.
• Francis Abernathy: The red-haired fop Francis can frequently be seen wearing a fake monocle. Like much of the group, he comes from considerable wealth. He is also similar to his fellow students with respect to his unorthodox childhood. He is, regardless, a greatly generous giver of gifts to his friends.

Quotes edit see section history

• “I had said goodbye to her once before, but it took everything I had to say goodbye to her then, again, for the last time, like poor Orpheus turning for a last backward glance at the ghost of his only love and in the same heartbeat losing her forever: hinc illae lacrimae, hence those tears.”

  Richard

• “He refused to see anything about any of us except our most engaging qualities, which he cultivated and magnified to the exclusion of all our tedious and less desirable ones.”

  Richard

• “Julian himself was constantly in the process of reinventing the people and events around him, conferring kindness, or wisdom, or bravery, or charm, on actions which contained nothing of the sort. It was one of the reasons I loved him: for that flattering light in which he saw me, for the person I was when I was with him, for what it was he allowed me to be.”

  Richard

• “Beauty is rarely soft or consolatory. Quite the contrary. Genuine beauty is always quite alarming.”

  Julian

• “Nothing is lonelier or more disorienting than insomnia.”

  Richard

• “Morning light can make the most vulgar things tolerable.”

  Henry

• “People don't pay attention to ninety percent of what they see.”

• “I suppose at one time in my life I might have had any number of stories, but now there is no other. This is the only story I will ever be able to tell.”

  Richard

• “One likes to think that there's something in it, that old platitude amor vincit omnia. But if I've learned one thing in my short sad life, it is that that particular platitude is a lie. Love doesn't conquer everything. And whoever thinks it does is a fool.”

  Richard

• “One's thoughts become different when forced into the confines of a rigid and unfamiliar tongue. Certain common ideas become inexpressible; other, previously undreamt-of ones spring to life finding miraculous new articulation.”

  Julian

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Plano, California
• Hampden College
• Vermont

First Sentence edit see section history

Series & Lists edit see section history

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Donna Tartt (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• BBC's Big Read (April 2003, #76)
• 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (Featured)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: PS3570.A657 S4
• Dewey: 813.54

Notes for Parents edit see section history

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Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › Authors, A-Z › ( T ) › Tartt, Donna
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Literary
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Contemporary

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