Heard of Donna Tartt? Debateable. Should you have? In terms of sheer ability, most definitely. In terms of reality, probably not. Its almost now 20 years since 1992, a time to which we can recall quite well, but also where two decades have crept up rather rapidly, and you pose yourself the question, Jesus, is it that long ago? Indeed, its almost those 20 short, or long (whichever way you look at it) years since Tartt’s The Secret History took the literary world by storm. Blowing critics and consumers alike out of the water, it was a gripping multi faceted epic, and spectacularly topped best seller lists to boot. Tartt was a prodigious writer as a youth, and started writing the book during her days as an undergrad in the mid 80’s. It took around 6 or 7 years for her to refine it, and craft into the meticulously referenced intellectual Greek tragedy, set in a modern day American liberal arts college. The protagonists were a clique of pretentious classics students who allow events spiral out of control, and duly laced the novel throughout with a Bret Easton Ellis signature of American privilege, drowning amidst a sea of hedonism and substance abuse. The glue that held the the novel together was the fact that it was ultimately a superbly taut and gripping high end thriller. Above all, its exploration of the clique’s actions on their own dynamic, fate, circumstance and development, the conflict between fantasy and reality, and how their lives unravel leaves no stone unturned thematically. All in all, It was hailed as a startling debut. You can already see why. 

So surely, she would have kicked on from there… But with only one release since in the intervening 20 odd years, the opposite has taken place. The success and majesty of The Secret History was seemingly never exploited. Tartt therefore epitomises the debate between perfectionism and prolificy, and what is more worthwhile. While almost JD Salinger esque in her media dealings and reclusive nature, in her few brief dealings with interviews, she has stoutly defended her belief to stay hidden, and labour on a piece until it is perfect in her eyes. An admirable stance, and one that declares a pride and attention to detail in her work.

She followed up The Secret History with the warmly received (but not as adulated) ‘The Little Friend’ in 2002, but another decade on, it seems that everybody seems to have forgotten about Tartt’s existence, let alone capabilities, particularly once the the frenzied conspiracy theories of her wherabouts and activity died down. Because the timespan eked out, her abilities and the merits of that spectacular debut seem to have been vanished into their own secret history. Are readers prepared to wait around? Seemingly not. 

You’ld be surprised though. The wait is obviously worth it, and more the done thing than you would imagine. Jonathan Franzen has utilised the same strategy. Essentially the hottest thing to emerge in donkey’s years with the acclaim of the Corrections, the wait and pressure for a follow up was almost at the end of its tether last year. But once he pulled ‘Freedom’ out of the fire, he was catapulted back into the limelight, with widespread appeasement to the readers and any absence was rapidly forgotten amidst the acclaim and publicity. What people also quickly forget is that Franzen’s previous book before the Corrections, ‘Strong Motion’, was actually published in 1992, the same year as the Secret History! So one of the most acclaimed and cherished of today’s fiction authors perfectionist approach actually does handsomely pay off…

Most importantly, Tartt, while seemingly a forgotten woman, actually apparently has a release on the imminent horizon, either this year or early 2012. Fresh off the back of digesting the brilliance of The Secret History(which if you haven’t read, I HIGHLY recommend delving in), hopefully she emulates Franzen. And by doing so, proves that she is not actually forgotten or consigned to history, and instead shows that she is still one of the finest out there. In other words, it just takes a little bit more time and care to illustrate it effectively. Then again, if you’re more impatient, current, and into the churned out quantity of the Barbara Cartland esque outputs of certain authors, go ahead. I’ll be still waiting patiently in the wings for some Tartt virtuosity, and when it finally emerges, saying, ‘I told you so’. No pressure or anything…