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Bookclub

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Led by James Naughtie, readers talk to acclaimed authors about their best-known novels

Led by James Naughtie, a group of readers talk to acclaimed authors about their best-known novels

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Bookclub: Donna Tartt - The Secret History

Donna Tartt - The Secret History

05/01/2014

BBC Radio 4 - Bookclub, Donna Tartt - The Secret History

Donna Tartt talks about her cult bestseller The Secret History. With James Naughtie.

Donna Tartt shot to fame with her first novel, The Secret History. She discusses the murder mystery about a group of classics students at a New England college with James Naughtie.

With James Naughtie.

Donna Tartt discusses her cult debut novel The Secret History, first published in 1992.

"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."

In a rare visit to the UK, Donna Tartt discusses The Secret History, which she has described as a 'why dunnit'. It's a murder mystery about a group of classic students at a privileged New England college; but from page one she discloses that the friends have murdered one of their number, Bunny. A literary thriller with allusions to Euripides and Dostoevsky, The Secret History was an overnight sensation and has gripped readers for decades.

As always in Bookclub, a group of invited readers join in the discussion too.

February's Bookclub choice : The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

Producer : Dymphna Flynn.

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