Hey, friend, that’s totally okay! 

The Secret History is definitely a great place to start with Donna Tartt.  The first thing to know is that none of her books are in some sequential, required reading order, so there’s nothing you won’t be able to grasp.

I can definitely confirm that, as someone who’s first Tartt novel was TSH, it made me fall in love with her.  The prose in that book, and the feelings it forces out of you, and the questions it asks are all positively decadent, and to die for.  I read The Goldfinch after that, actually, and there’s a brief cameo from a TSH character much later in life there, which is also pleasant, because that five-second window made me hugely excited. 

weliveandbreathewords said:“Simon”, said Simon. “If I’m going to die for you all, the least you could do is remember my name.”

lvashkovadrian said: “JAce told me once you’d walk over my heart with high heeled boots, and it hasn’t stopped me”

lvashkovadrian answered: “If they need a human sacrifice you can always offer me” “Our love is forbidden like the love of a sharp and a- a shark hunter. But that’s what makes it special”