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The Book Club

6. The Secret History: Dark Academia, Greek Myth, and Murder

The Book Club

Goalhanger

Arts, Books, Education, History

4.71.4K Ratings

🗓️ 24 March 2026

⏱️ 82 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

How does Donna Tartt combine gothic academia and greek mythology in her captivating debut novel? What do the characters tell us about the dark side of human nature? And, did her own university experience influence the story? Dominic Sandbrook and Tabitha Syrett discuss all this and more in this week's episode on The Secret History by Donna Tartt. Explore our favourite Folio books at http://foliosociety.com/thebookclub Email us: ⁠⁠thebookclub@goalhanger.com⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠@bookclubpodhq⁠⁠ TikTok: ⁠⁠@thebookclubpodhq⁠⁠ X: ⁠⁠@bookclubpodhq⁠⁠ YouTube: ⁠⁠@TheBookClubPodHQ⁠⁠ Senior Producer: Nicole Maslen Social Producer: Harry Balden Assistant Producer: Alfie Norris Video Editor: Lorcan Moullier Executive Producer: Dom Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

This episode is brought to you by the Folio Society.

0:04.8

Now Tabby, as you know, there are some books that you read once, but there are others you especially return to again and again.

0:11.4

And those second kind of books, the ones you go back to, they really deserve to last, don't they?

0:16.4

That's what the Folio Society does.

0:18.7

They are an independent, employee-owned publisher based in London.

0:23.0

Since 1947, they've been turning the stories we know and love into books for life.

0:28.0

Yes, every book is produced with specially commissioned, beautiful artwork and a specially commissioned introduction that puts the story in its context.

0:38.9

Whether you're into crime,

0:46.4

sci-fi or history, Folio Society publishes the books we love, from Bronte to Dickens,

0:52.4

from Margaret Atwood to Tom Holland. The books can feel like works of art in their own right. They're built around the text,

0:54.7

the stories that last in books that are made to last.

0:58.5

If a story matters, keep it properly.

1:01.5

Find it at foliosociety.com slash the book club.

1:05.8

That's foliosociety.com slash the book club.

1:09.5

Music society.com slash the book club.

1:28.7

The Snow in the Mountains was melting and Bunny had been dead for several weeks before we came to understand the gravity of our situation.

1:32.0

He'd been dead for ten days before they found him, you know.

1:35.2

It was one of the biggest manhunts in Vermont history.

1:38.0

It's difficult to believe that Henry's modest plan could have worked so well despite these

1:42.5

unforeseen events.

1:45.9

We hadn't intended to hide the body where it couldn't be found. In fact, we hadn't hidden it at all, but it simply left it

1:51.2

where it fell in hopes that some luckless passerby would stumble over it before anyone even noticed

...

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