“But sometimes, unexpectedly, grief pounded over me in waves that left me gasping; and when the waves washed back, I found myself looking out over a brackish wreck which was illumined in a light so lucid, so heartsick and empty, that I could hardly remember that the world had ever been anything but dead.”

American novelist

Donna Tartt is an American novelist known for her three novels, The Secret History, The Little Friend, and The Goldfinch. Her work has made her a notable figure in contemporary American fiction. The Secret History appeared in 1992, followed by The Little Friend in 2002 and The Goldfinch in 2013. The Goldfinch won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and was later adapted into a 2019 film. In 2014, Time magazine included her on its list of the 100 Most Influential People.