The Secret History (spoilers for the unread) what next?

Have you read The Group?

Hope you enjoy it @mrsfrumble - BBE and DT both went to the same college (Bennington I think) and it’s definitely the same setting that they use

Ooh, I didn’t know that about Rules of Attraction sharing characters with TSH slipperyeel. I’ll have to read it now.

I’ve just got to Theo’s engagement party in The Goldfinch and did a little squeak at the mention of Francis Abernathy!

Irish murdoch really reminds me of Donna ytrat.

God I absolutely love The Secret History, it's definitely my favourite book.
I just recently read We Have Always Lived In The Castle by Shirley Jackson, which I bought mainly because of the quote from Donna Tartt on the front. That I can definitely recommend. Also agree with others re Wych Elm, I read that and really enjoyed it.

I first read the Secret History at university and I still love it 20 years later. I disliked TLF (must try it again) and liked but didn’t love The Goldfinch.
I don’t think there’s anything quite like TSH but some suggestions:

The Bell Jar
Brett Easton Ellis The Rules of Attraction (shares some characters with TSH)
Brideshead Revisited
The Name of the Rose
Playing Fields in Winter by Helen Harris
Possession by AS Byatt
Wonder Boys

IMO her many modern imitators do not come close. Special mention for Black Chalk which is truly one of the worst books I have ever read.

You’ve probably read Brideshead, but if you haven’t you must!!!

A Prayer for Owen Meany is what I would recommend - I found myself similarly “invested” in the characters and John Irving’s writing is superb

East of Eden
The grapes of wrath

How about The Historian? I loved this almost as much as TSH.

Foxtiger I never figured it out either! I thought that was why so many people disliked TLF; because it left the central mystery unanswered.

TSH is one of my favourite books ever. I read it for the first time when I was in sixth form, and it got passed around all my friends. I still have that copy and it’s falling to bits! I’m about 3/4 of the way through The Goldfinch and I imagine I’ll also feel bereft when I’ve finished. I loved the chapters where Theo and Boris are feral, neglected teenagers in Las Vegas. Sort of heartbreaking but so vividly written.

In terms of recommendations, may I suggest Idaho by Emily Ruskovich? Like TSH it’s a kind of “whydunnit”, with the crime happening at the beginning and the backstory unfolding throughout the book. The plot spans about 30 years and I felt deeply attached to the characters.

The Stranger's Child by Alan Hollinghurst has a similar sweeping quality and long timescale. The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe has a similar immaculate attention to detail.

Glad you enjoyed it Tourist!

And some of Isabel Allende's are amazing, too.

Have you tried Patrick Gale or Erin Morgenstern?

As The Secret History is possibly my favourite book to date, I am enjoying your suggestions. I would like to add Into The Forest by Jean Hegland, which also has an elegant richness of details. Plus the flawed but fascinating The Magus by John Fowles for another novel linked to mythology.

@Lido - I picked up The Interestings on your recommendation (as I also loved a Secret History) and I absolutely devoured it, thank you!

I enjoyed The Little Friend a lot even though I know not everybody did. It was set in a time that I very vaguely remember from my early childhood and I enjoyed the cultural references. The actual story was quite interesting, although it was slightly spoilt for me afterwards by reading a review that said it was obvious what really happened to [the character that something extreme happened to early on], when I certainly never figured it out (I've since found out that others didn't either and most of them think the reviewer was mistaken).

Another book that rather reminded me of The Secret History, and that I enjoyed a lot and went on to read and enjoy several others by the same author, was Don't Ask Me Why by Tania Kindersley. Set in Oxford, not America, it was also the story of someone who met an interesting set of people at university, but things worked out rather differently for them. It had a strange sort of quietly nostalgic quality.

Have you read the Elena Ferrante Neopolitan novels? I couldn't recommend them more highly.

Have you read A Hearts Invisible Furies by John Boyne? I finally read it last week and adored it. Along the lines of A Little Life in areas but without the misery porn!!

Have you read Alias Grace, Margaret Atwood? It's an oldie but a goodie. It's not really like The Secret History but has a similar pot-about-to-boil-over tension.

What about The Luminaries? It's similarly complex and intriguing.

I have to say I don't really like Kate Morton as a writer.

I liked The Little Friend as well as her other 2 books.
Also Curtis Sittenfield is a brilliant writer- have read Prep, Sisterland and American Wife - all very good.

Donna Tarth is one of a kind. The Secret History is my favourite novel, I think. I was bereft when I finished it for the first time.

A different type of author, but maybe try John Updike. He does plot well, and come from the same (ish) canon. I also recently enjoyed The Poisonwood Bible and think they Curtis Sittenfeld and A M Homes should both be better known in the UK. Both excellent novelists.