THE SECRET HISTORY is Donna Tartt's first book, apparently written while she was still in school. If you read it, you'll see why this is so hard to believe. The writer seems to be a master, an old pro. Some readers have even said it is or will be a classic.

Richard is a Californian who has come to a small college in Vermont, where he studies Greek in a class with five other students, Harry, Francis, twins Charles and Camilla (I still don't know what to think of those two name choices), and Bunny (a male nickname). Richard becomes close with them, so close it is to the exclusion of all others, too close. Their story involves a murder, which leads to another murder, which leads to a suicide.

This is a book you might want to reread. You might wonder if you caught every detail or missed an allusion. I never reread books, but this one I might.