Lucy Bannister’s Reviews > The Secret History > Status Update

Tartt is an incredibly dexterous and provocative writer but I think certain events in this novel are unnecessary drawn out which does not achieve the Hitchcock style of suspense she intended. The opening is magnetising; referencing the Iliad we drawn into an inverted gloomy dystopian from the get go. TSH is perhaps 200 pages too long with a pervasive somber atmosphere, heavy substance abuse and unbearable characters.

Tartt is an incredibly dexterous and provocative writer, but Imo certain events in this novel are unnecessarily drawn out and lack the Hitchcock style of suspense that she intended. The opening is completely magnetising; referencing the Iliad we are drawn into an inverted gloomy dystopian from the get go. TSH is perhaps 200 too long with a prevailing somber atmosphere, substance abuse and unbearable characters.