Donna Tartt Books In Order
Book links take you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn money from qualifying purchases.Publication Order of Standalone Novels
The Secret History | (1992) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Little Friend | (2002) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Goldfinch | (2013) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Publication Order of Best American Short Stories Books
The Best Short Stories of 1915 | (1916) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best Short Stories of 1916 | (1916) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best Short Stories of 1917 | (1917) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best Short Stories of 1918 | (1918) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best Short Stories of 1919 | (1919) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best Short Stories of 1921 | (1921) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best Short Stories of 1922 | (1922) | |
The Best Short Stories of 1923 | (1923) | |
The Best Short Stories 1924 | (1924) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best Short Stories of 1925 | (1925) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best Short Stories 1926 | (1926) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best Short Stories 1927 | (1927) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best Short Stories of 1928 | (1928) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best Short Stories of 1929 | (1929) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best Short Stories 1930 | (1930) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best Short Stories 1931 | (1931) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best Short Stories of 1932 | (1932) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best Short Stories 1933 | (1933) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best Short Stories 1934 | (1934) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best Short Stories 1935 | (1935) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best Short Stories 1936 | (1936) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best Short Stories 1937 | (1937) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best Short Stories of 1938 | (1938) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
50 Best American Short Stories, 1915-1939 | (1939) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best Short Stories 1939 | (1939) | |
The Best Short Stories of 1940 | (1940) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best Short Stories 1941 | (1941) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1942 | (1942) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1943 | (1943) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1944 | (1944) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1945 | (1945) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1946 | (1946) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1947 | (1947) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1948 | (1948) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1949 | (1949) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1950 | (1950) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1951 | (1951) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1952 | (1952) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1953 | (1953) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1955 | (1955) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1956 | (1956) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1957 | (1957) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1958 | (1958) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1959 | (1959) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1960 | (1960) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1961 | (1961) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1962 | (1962) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1963 | (1963) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1964 | (1964) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1965 | (1965) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1966 | (1966) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1967 | (1967) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1968 | (1967) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories of 1969 | (1969) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1970 | (1970) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1971 | (1971) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1972 | (1972) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1973 | (1973) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1974 | (1974) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best of Best American Short Stories 1915-1950 | (1975) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1975 | (1975) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1976 | (1976) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1977 | (1977) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1978 | (1978) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1979 | (1979) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1980 | (1980) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1981 | (1981) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1982 | (1982) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1983 | (1983) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1984 | (1984) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1985 | (1985) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1986 | (1986) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1987 | (1987) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1988 | (1988) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1989 | (1989) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories of the Eighties | (1990) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1990 | (1990) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1991 | (1991) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1992 | (1992) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1993 | (1993) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1994 | (1994) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1995 | (1995) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1996 | (1996) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1997 | (1997) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1998 | (1998) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 1999 | (1999) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 2000 | (2000) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories of the Century | (2000) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 2001 | (2001) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 2002 | (2002) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 2003 | (2003) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 2004 | (2004) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 2005 | (2005) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 2006 | (2006) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 2007 | (2007) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best Short Stories of 1921, and the Yearbook of the American Short Story | (2007) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories1921 | (2007) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 2008 | (2008) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 2009 | (2009) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 2010 | (2010) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 2011 | (2011) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 2012 | (2012) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 2013 | (2013) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 2014 | (2014) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 2015 | (2015) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
100 Years of The Best American Short Stories | (2015) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 2016 | (2016) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 2017 | (2017) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 2018 | (2018) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 2019 | (2019) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 2020 | (2020) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Short Stories 2022 | (2022) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Anthology series. |
Publication Order of Anthologies
Donna Tartt is a US author. She was born in Greenwood in Mississippi in 1953 and she studied at Bennington College in Vermont. Later, Tartt went on to study classics and English literature at the University of Mississippi (having enrolled there in 1981). Whilst at university, she studied alongside several other American novelists, including Bret Easton Ellis. Tartt began writing short stories at an early age – her writing caught the attention of her professors at university from the very beginning. She later progressed to writing longer novels, many of which quickly became bestsellers. Tartt won several prestigious awards for her writing, including the Pulitzer Prize. She has claimed that her key literary influences include George Orwell and JD Salinger. Tartt is often regarded as something of a mysterious author, and not least because each of her first three novels were separated by time spans of around a decade.
Books written by Donna Tartt.
Donna Tartt has written numerous novels, most of which were published by Alfred A. Knopf. Her first novel was ‘The Secret History’, which was published in 1992. This was followed by ‘The Little Friend’ and ‘The Goldfinch’. She has also published several non fiction articles in magazines, and a number of short stories. Tartt’s first short story was ‘Tam O’Shanter’, published in 1993 in The New Yorker. ‘The Little Friend’ is a dark story about children who come into contact with the sinister aspects of the adult world in a way that continues to impact on them for the rest of their lives. It centers around a young female protagonist whose brother is killed by hanging, and it traces her anxiety as she tries to come to terms with this and other things that happen to her along the way. All of Tartt’s novels have been highly praised. Let us take a closer look at two of Tartt’s most famous works, ‘The Secret History’ and ‘The Goldfinch’.
‘The Secret History’.
This book is based at Bennington College in Vermont where, as has been mentioned above, Tartt herself studied. The book is both a literary novel and a classic murder mystery, blending classical scholarship with a sense of ‘whodunnit?’ suspense. In this novel, a group of classics students attempt to recreate an ancient and bloody Dionysian ritual. The result is the murder of the most vulnerable member of the group, a man called Bunny. The narrator of ‘The Secret History’ is a man called Richard Papen, and as the book opens several years have passed since the murder. Thus, ‘The Secret History’ involves Papen looking back on the devastating events of the past. Papen was, at Bennington College, somewhat of an outsider. However, he became fascinated with a close knit group of friends who included Bunny, a pair of twins called Charles and Camilla, a wealthy young man named Francis and a ‘genius’ named Henry. Soon, the group’s penchant for teasing Bunny becomes something more sinister. As Papen gets closer to the group of friends, and even gets invited to spend time with them during vacations, he discovers other dark secrets that they are harboring – such as incest between Charles and Camilla. All in all, this is a book that can be described as a literary thriller: suspenseful, bloody and gripping. The book’s title comes from an ancient Greek book by the author Procopius. The title of Procopius’ book translates to ‘The Secret History’. This work dealt with secret rituals, many of which were erotic in nature. As such, there are obvious overlaps with Tartt’s work, which Tartt was happy to be open about.
‘The Secret History’ is a book that examines the power of elites and cliques, as well as their endless fascination to the outsider. The reader gets to experience this through Papen’s fascination with a close knit clique of friends. The book also explores the alluring power of knowledge – both literary and classical knowledge and the forbidden knowledge that comes from forbidden deeds such as incest and murder.
‘The Goldfinch’.
‘The Goldfinch’ is another gripping novel, though it was published around 20 years after ‘The Secret History’. The Goldfinch follows the fortunes of a male narrator called Theodore who is caught in a bomb blast whilst visiting a museum with his mother as a young boy. His mother tragically dies in the blast, and the young narrator steals a priceless painting: ‘The Goldfinch’ by Carel Fabritius. The rest of the novel follows Theodore’s life as he attempts to hide the painting he has stolen. It follows his love for a young woman who was also caught up in the blast, and his friendship with her grandfather.Theo lives for a while with a wealthy family called The Barbours, however he later moves to LA with his once-estranged father and there strikes up a friendship with a young man called Boris. It is this friendship with Boris that, in the world of the novel, leads to the narrator’s life taking a very unexpected turn, which is only fully revealed towards the end of the novel. Boris calls Theodore by the nickname ‘Potter’, after JK Rowling’s famous book character Harry Potter. As the theft of the painting weighs heavily on Theodore’s soul, the novel twists and turns towards a very unexpected conclusion.
This book can be thought of as forming a very loose part of a series with ‘The Secret History’ because one of the main characters of ‘The Secret History’, Francis Abernathy, also appears briefly in ‘The Goldfinch’. Tartt won the Pulitzer Prize for ‘The Goldfinch’, and it was hailed as a great success. This book was long awaited because, after Tartt published ‘The Little Friend’, she did not write another novel until ‘The Goldfinch’ appeared 11 years later. ‘The Goldfinch’ can be described generically as a Bildungsroman. Originating in Germany in the eighteenth century, the Bildungsroman was a genre of novel that focused on a main character who grows up as the novel progresses. This is certainly true of ‘The Goldfinch’ as in it we see Theodore grow from childhood to adulthood. Though his path through life is often a very difficult and tragic one, it can be said that in the final passages of the book he has truly matured in his world view and his way of acting.
Book Series In Order » Authors »
The Secret History is one of my favorites and I too read it ages ago. It’s the kind of book that stays with you a long time! I’ve heard nothing but wonderful things about Goldfinch too so can’t wait to read it.
I read this ages ago. I loved it. It is a mystery and a hefty one. I am not certain why she is lionized – the Goldfinch was not my cuppa tea, but I was very absorbed by the Secret Life was. one I very much enjoyed.