Book Club: Hayley Scrivenor on The Secret History

Join us for the very first session in our brand-new Book Club with Authors series! Local bestselling author of Girl Falling and Dirt Town, Hayley Scrivenor, leads this first discussion on Donna Tartt's classic novel The Secret History.

Friday 19 September, 7 – 8:30pm
Red Point Arts, Port Kembla

In the opening chapter of Donna Tartt’s infamous The Secret History, there is the following line:

‘I suppose at one time in my life I might have had any number of stories, but now there is no other. This is the only story I will ever be able to tell.’

This book—a tale of a student trying to fit in with glamorous college friends, who happen to be hiding a dark secret—took the author ten years to write, and would go on to be a massive bestseller. It also experienced something of a renaissance on social media, where it's become synonymous with ‘Dark Academia’. If you’re interested in reading and discussing this book, then join internationally best-selling author, Hayley Scrivenor, for a special book club! 

Hayley says, ‘I chose The Secret History because something about it endures. It’s a book that I get something new out of every time I read it. I am also embarrassingly interested in the story behind the writing of novel, and I can’t wait to talk about all this and more with anyone who comes along!’

Hayley Scrivenor’s internationally published debut novel, Dirt Town, became an instant #1 Australian bestseller in 2022. It has been translated into multiple languages and won a number of national and international awards, including an ABIA for General Fiction Book of the Year, a Lambda Literary award for LGBTQ+ Mystery, a Davitt Award for Best Debut Crime Book, and a Crime Writers’ Association ‘New Blood’ Dagger. Hayley holds a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Wollongong and lives on Dharawal country. Girl Falling is her second novel.