Thursday, February 14, 2013

Donna Tartt to publish first novel for 11 years

The Secret History author's third book, about a young boy's descent into 'the art underworld', will be released this autumn
Donna Tartt
The Goldfinch lands this autumn ... Donna Tartt in 2002. Photograph: Rex/Pepijn Leupen

Two decades after Donna Tartt soared to literary stardom with her debut The Secret History, the reclusive author is set to release her third novel this autumn
.

The Goldfinch is due out in the US on 22 October this year, and according to a description from its publisher on Amazon.com will tell the story of a young boy in New York City, Theo Decker, who "miraculously" survives an explosion that kills his mother. "Alone and determined to avoid being taken in by the city as an orphan, Theo scrambles between nights in friends' apartments and on the city streets. He becomes entranced by the one thing that reminds him of his mother: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that soon draws Theo into the art underworld," runs the blurb. "The Goldfinch is a haunted odyssey through present-day America. It is a story of loss and obsession, survival and self-invention, and the enormous power of art."

The novel follows 11 years after Tartt's second book The Little Friend, which was published in 2002, and 21 years after her acclaimed first novel The Secret History, published in 1992. Selling millions of copies around the world and translated into 24 languages, Tartt's debut is the story of the murder of a classics student by his group of friends. It drew instant acclaim. The Little Friend opens with the death of a nine-year-old boy, and follows his 12-year-old sister's plans for vengeance 10 years later. Although it was shortlisted for the Orange prize, it did not sell nearly as well as The Secret History.


The famously reticent Tartt has not given an interview about herself or her writing for a decade. Talking to the Guardian in 2002, she said she couldn't "think of anything worse than having to turn out a book every year. It would be hell."


"Part of the problem with success is that it seduces people into overproduction," she said at the time . "When my first book came out, I was very confused because I was thrown into a world that I knew nothing about. I just kind of lived like a student, worked like a student. And then all of a sudden – well, the metaphor that comes to mind is a shark tank. It wasn't quite that bad. But it was a shock. It was a bucket of cold water. People you'd meet and talk to and journalists would say, 'Oh, what are you going to do to top this one? If your name's not out there in two years, people will forget all about you.' I mean, jeez, what are they talking about? William Styron said, when he was about my age, that he realised he had about five books in him, and that was OK. I think I have about the same number. Five."

Rights for The Goldfinch are currently under negotiation in the UK, according to the Bookseller. Bloomsbury is rumoured to have paid around £1m for The Little Friend .

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