'The Secret History's' Donna Tartt Sets Title, Release Date for Third Novel

4:17 PM PST 2/12/2013 by Andy Lewis

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The first novel in 11 years from the reclusive writer will tell the story of a young orphan who gets drawn into New York's City's art underworld.

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Donna Tartt

Donna Tartt's third novel -- 11 years in the making -- now has a title and a release date.

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According to an Amazon listing, the novel is titled Goldfinch and is scheduled for release Oct. 22.

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Here is the description on Amazon:

"A young boy in New York City, Theo Decker, miraculously survives an explosion that takes the life of 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."

Tartt is the reclusive novelist who shot to fame in 1992 with the blockbuster hit The Secret History, a murder mystery set on a college campus much like that of her alma mater Bennington College.

After the book's success, Tartt retreated from the limelight, publishing little and granting fewer interviews.

In 2002 she published The Little Friend, a novel set in her native Mississippi. While the novel sold well, it failed to replicate the success of The Secret History.

A movie version of The Secret History was reportedly in development by Alan Pakula before his death in a car accident on Long Island in 1998.