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If you loved The Secret History…

76 replies

DrainYou · 27/02/2023 12:25

…please could you recommend other books you also enjoyed? I absolutely love the dark, witty characteristics of The Secret History and am struggling to find similar. It is not necessarily the “university” genre, more the intrigue and grittiness of it. I also really enjoyed Perfume and The Gargoyle.

Any suggestions gratefully received!

OP posts:
potniatheron · 27/02/2023 17:28

KStockHERO · 27/02/2023 14:17

Seconding 'The Paying Guests' - I completely forgot about that.

Sarah Waters other book, 'The Little Stranger' is also a good shout - creepy and mysterious.

Show quote history

Ooooh yes - in fact anything by Sarah Waters will scratch that Secret History itch.

1Wanda1 · 27/02/2023 17:44

Spies by Michael Frayn.
The Romantic by William Boyd.
Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen.

ItsMeAnnie · 28/02/2023 12:21

"The Magus" by John Fowles- its wonderful. Both that and The Secret History are in my top 10 books ever.

BigMadAdrian · 28/02/2023 14:24

Great thread - have put things into my Amazon basket...

I also loved The Historian and Pianesi - if you haven't read Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell I would definitely recommend that too. I didn't like The Goldfinch and I think The Paying Guests is one of Sarah Waters's weaker efforts, but agree with The Little Stranger!

My recommendation is The Seed Collectors by Scarlett Thomas - it has that same dark, faintly bonkers vibe about it. I also liked The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley. You might also like Oscar and Lucinda.

MrsDoyle351 · 02/03/2023 06:51

placemarking

DoraChance · 02/03/2023 07:13

Only 100 pages in but I've just started I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai and it's def got a Secret History vibe. Posh boarding school in New England, a mystery, 90s nostalgia. It's pretty good so far.

tobee · 02/03/2023 21:59

I wish there was another version on audible. I find DT narration distracting.

adjsavedmylife · 02/03/2023 22:16

“I love Henry” ❤️

MonaChopsis · 02/03/2023 22:29

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides and The Poison wood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver both have a similar feel too me.

Also anything but Anne Tyler. Totally different style but really engrossing writing.

pigalow27 · 02/03/2023 22:48

Engleby- Sebastian Faulks, Brightness Falls and Story of My Life - Jay Mcinerney, The Last Weekend- Blake Morrison. And a particular favourite which I think has a Secret History vibe - Trust by Mary Flanagan

notnowdennis · 02/03/2023 22:56

Loved Prep and The Goldfinch.

recommend Milan Kundera - The Unbearable Lightness of Being. Staggering portrait of a relationship during changing times.

IJustHadToLookHavingReadTheBook · 02/03/2023 23:01

The Little Strangers, Sarah Waters

LobeliaBaggins · 02/03/2023 23:10

OMG both The Secret History and The Little Stranger are among my favourite books of all time. And no one I know has read them.

I recommend Sarah Waters' other books as well, especially Affinity and Fingersmith. Tana French's Dublin Murders have a similar atmosphere too. In fact her book The Likeness reads like a rip off of the Secret History!

Apparently there is a new book out called "The Cloisters' which Waterstones recommends for fans of The Secret History.

Jux · 02/03/2023 23:26

The Secret History is my favourite of her books, but I do really like the way Little Friend just doesn't do very much in the end. It seemed so much truer to life.

Continuing reading for the book recomms though!

ninjasnap · 02/03/2023 23:39

I also love and regularly re-read The Secret History but hated The Little Friend (nice cover design in the first paperback edition though) The Goldfinch was well-written but missing a certain something. Decent film adaptation, but nothing in TSH.

I second the PP who mentioned The Mandibles, disturbingly prescient in the post-Covid era. I find Lionel Shriver either brilliant (We Need to Talk About Kevin, Big Brother, The Post-Birthday World) or underwhelming.

I recently loved "Still Life" by Sarah Winman, which had (to me at least) a similar "feel", not in plot intrigue so much as mood.

Also "What I Loved" by Siri Hustvedt is a woefully under-celebrated book which has echoes of Tartt's style, I often recommend oft without really knowing how to describe it or what genre it fits into. If you like TSH I think you might enjoy it...

Gremlinsateit · 03/03/2023 06:54

Interesting, I really like some of the books mentioned here - Oscar and Lucinda is an all-time favourite, The Luminaries, The Magus, Jeffrey Eugenides, Sarah Waters - but I loathe and despise The Secret History and The Little Friend.

BigMadAdrian · 03/03/2023 07:28

I've thought of another - The Thirteenth Tale.

KStockHERO · 03/03/2023 10:01

Another one from me - Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh which is very dark.

I'm absolutely loving this thread - so many suggestions added to my 'Books for 2023' list

Haus1234 · 03/03/2023 10:04

Babel - it is pretty gritty / grim though

Thestresssolution · 03/03/2023 10:22

This

teaandtoastwithmarmite · 03/03/2023 11:19

Different class by Joanne Harris

teaandtoastwithmarmite · 03/03/2023 11:23

And the Life Class series by Pat Barker

Echobelly · 03/03/2023 11:27

You might like Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, also The Marriage Plot by him. Not mysteries but I think people who like Tartt's style would enjoy his.

ninjasnap · 03/03/2023 12:51

Echobelly · 03/03/2023 11:27

You might like Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, also The Marriage Plot by him. Not mysteries but I think people who like Tartt's style would enjoy his.

I agree, I loved both of these and also 'The Virgin Suicides' by him.

Jonathan Franzen also has a similar feel

PopGoesTheProsecco · 03/03/2023 13:12

Great thread OP. Definitely going to look into some of these suggestions.

I don't know why but whenever I picture Bunny in The Secret History, I always see a young Philip Seymour Hoffman (playing the part).