“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’ll be able to tell.”

Written by Donna Tartt, The Secret History swiftly became one of the best novels I have read to date. I’ll admit, it’s a very slow start, the content is dense, and the length can be quite daunting, but after getting about 100 pages in, it was nearly impossible to put this book down.

As far as making a playlist for The Secret History goes, I decided to create a dark academia-esque playlist with a smidge of what I think some of the characters would listen to. Dark academia since many argue that this novel inspired the subculture/subculture’s aesthetic. The idea of dark academia centers around higher education, liberal arts/classical studies, poetry, and literature, while the aesthetic revolves around libraries, museums, early prep school uniform clothing, coffee shops, and colors such as black, white, beige, navy, dark greens, and warm shades of red. This playlist is meant to reflect this subculture’s aesthetic, which is very prevalent in this novel.

The way I would like to approach the deeper dive into this playlist is to highlight a song off of the playlist that I think represents each of the six students along with a brief description of each character. I will warn now, there are spoilers ahead.

Richard Papen: “This Charming Man” by The Smiths

Richard Papen is the narrator of the novel, but he will later prove with much afterthought that he is not as reliable of a narrator as we’d like him to be. In all honesty, much of his personality revolves around lying, particularly about himself and his financial background. Trying desperately to fit in with the other students who possess tremendous amounts of familial wealth, Richard hides the fact that he comes from a lower to lower middle class family. I chose “This Charming Man,” because the entire message of the song reflects Richard’s struggle of not being wealthy, yet trying to fit in with this particular group of students. The song also touches on sexual ambiguity, which is also prevalent to Richard and his relationship to Francis Abernathy.

Francis Abernathy: “Scott Street” by Phoebe Bridgers

Francis Abernathy is one of Richard’s classmates, and probably my favorite character in the book. He dresses well, loves cooking, and tragically becomes an anxious mess after the death of Bunny. Francis also attempts to hide his homosexuality, even though he continuously attempts to make moves on Richard and admits he has slept with Charles, another classmate, on more than one occasion. I chose “Scott Street” particularly because it brought me back to the epilogue where Francis and Richard are reunited after Francis attempts suicide. After recovering, Francis and Richard catch up and talk about the lives of the other students after all of this time. “Scott Street” is a super nostalgic song, and the line “Anyway, don’t be a stranger” really rings out when you’re sitting there just reading the two of them talking to each other after a few years of not being in much contact with one another.

Edmund “Bunny” Corcoran: “Little Dark Age” by MGMT

Edmund Corcoran, better known as Bunny, is among the group of classmates, yet is the one who is unfortunately murdered by his friends. The group comes to the conclusion that they must murder him after Bunny found out the murder that happened during the bacchanal that Francis, Henry, Camilla, and Charles participated in. Bunny is slowly, but aggressively affected by this news, only because he missed out, and the murder was never solved–but he knew they killed an innocent man. The remainder of his classmates are threatened by Bunny’s behavior, scared that he will turn them in. On top of this, the group of classmates all seem in debt to him in some aspect, and see him at this point as a nuisance, so their solution was to simply kill him. I chose “Little Dark Age,” because the song itself is about trying to hide a dark secret and trying to keep it to yourself. However, the chaotic and rushed instrumentation that builds up to the chorus reminds me of the build up and ultimate death of Bunny.

Henry Winter: “Enjoy the Silence” by Depeche Mode

Henry Winter is considered the brains of the group of classmates, as well as the mastermind behind Bunny’s murder. He is incredibly intelligent, fluent in several languages and often engulfed in his studies. Out of all the classmates, Henry was closest to Bunny. Although Henry comes off as standoffish and slightly withdrawn, he is by far the most manipulative out of the bunch. His motives are selfish, and he does not hesitate to throw others under the bus to evade responsibility for his actions. What makes Henry such an intriguing character, in my opinion, is how good he is at manipulating everyone, including the readers. He is always one step ahead of the others, and you never really know it until it’s too late. I chose “Enjoy the Silence” because the song sounds mysterious and ominous, just as how I picture Henry.

Camilla Macaulay: “Young and Beautiful” by Lana Del Rey

Camilla Macaulay is Charles’s twin sister and the only female classmate of the bunch. She is incredibly wise and aside from Henry, she is the most emotionally stable following the murder of Bunny. Her beauty is something that is consistently brought up throughout the novel, with one of my favorite quotes about her being, “Being the only female in what was basically a boys’ club must have been difficult for her. Miraculously, she didn’t compensate by becoming hard or quarrelsome. She was still a girl, a slight lovely girl who lay in bed and ate chocolates, a girl whose hair smelled like hyacinth and whose scarves fluttered jauntily in the breeze. But strange and marvelous as she was, a wisp of silk in a forest of black wool, she was not the fragile creature one would have her seem.” Despite her brains and beauty, she is still just as guilty as the others, and I would argue that she ultimately suffers the worst consequences from their actions–she is left unhappy tending to her dying grandmother all alone, having lost her relationship with both her brother and Henry. As a result, I had to choose “Young and Beautiful” because this song just seems made for her. I could hear this song being played when she is reunited with Richard and Francis in the epilogue. The overwhelming gloom and sadness surrounding Camilla during this time combined with Richard’s final effort to win her over work so well with this song.

Charles Macaulay: “Freaks” by Surf Curse

Charles Macaulay is Camilla’s twin brother, and the one character who just can’t seem to catch a break. Although wise and probably the most friendly out of the group, Charles ends up becoming a drunk who is far beyond saving. I chose “Freaks” by Surf Curse because of how self-destructive and depressed Charles becomes as a result of Bunny’s murder. Charles struggled immensely, as he was one of the main people the police and FBI were questioning in regards to Bunny’s death. His sister Camilla also confides in Henry that Charles has been actively abusing her after Bunny’s death, which led to Charles’s increasing paranoia that the group (specifically Henry) was out to kill him next. In “Freaks,” the lines, “Don’t kill me / Just help me run away from everyone / I need a place to stay / Where I can cover up my face,” really resonate with Charles’ situation.

Listen to the rest of the playlist here: