Audiobooks Like The Secret History

Donna Tartt narrates The Secret History herself, and her voice has a deliberate, almost ceremonial quality that matches the novel's concern with ritual and decay — there's a coldness to it, an aristocratic remove that feels entirely right for a story about beautiful people doing terrible things. At 22 hours the slow-burn tension is sustained by Tartt's own relationship to the material, and the other picks here share that literary darkness and the unhurried pace of fiction that believes its ideas are worth the time.

10 audiobooks for fans of The Secret History

  1. 1
    The Little Friend cover

    The Little Friend

    by Donna Tartt

    Narrated by Karen White

    3.38 ABR Score (84.8K ratings)
    ★ 3.48 Goodreads (83.6K) ★ 3.62 Audible (1.2K)
    25h 53m listening time • Released 2003
  2. 2
    The Goldfinch cover

    The Goldfinch

    by Donna Tartt

    Narrated by David Pittu

    4.28 ABR Score (1.1M ratings)
    ★ 3.97 Goodreads (1.1M) ★ 4.33 Audible (42.4K)
    32h 24m listening time • Released 2013
  3. 3
    Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire cover

    Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

    Harry Potter • Book 4

    by J.K. Rowling

    Narrated by Jim Dale

    5.00 ABR Score (4.4M ratings)
    ★ 4.57 Goodreads (4.2M) ★ 4.94 Audible (125.6K)
    20h 36m listening time • Released 2015

    Jim Dale's performance transforms this darker turn into something almost unbearably gripping—his voices for the Triwizard Tournament's chaos and Voldemort's return will haunt you long after the 20+ hours end.

  4. 4
    Demon Copperhead cover

    Demon Copperhead

    by Barbara Kingsolver

    Narrated by Charlie Thurston

    4.81 ABR Score (858.9K ratings)
    ★ 4.46 Goodreads (824.6K) ★ 4.77 Audible (34.3K)
    21h 3m listening time • Released 2022
  5. 5
    East of Eden cover

    East of Eden

    by John Steinbeck

    Narrated by Richard Poe

    4.78 ABR Score (674.9K ratings)
    ★ 4.44 Goodreads (655.0K) ★ 4.78 Audible (19.8K)
    25h 23m listening time • Released 2011
  6. 6
    The Storyteller cover

    The Storyteller

    by Jodi Picoult

    Narrated by Mozhan Marno, Jennifer Ikeda, Edoardo Ballerini, Suzanne Toren, Fred Berman

    4.57 ABR Score (299.1K ratings)
    ★ 4.3 Goodreads (278.1K) ★ 4.61 Audible (21.0K)
    18h 13m listening time • Released 2013

    Multiple narrators bring genuine depth to this emotional story about complicity and forgiveness—each voice makes you feel like you're hearing a different person's truth.

  7. 7
    The House of the Spirits cover

    The House of the Spirits

    Trilogía Involuntaria • Book 3

    by Isabel Allende, Magda Bogin

    Narrated by Thom Rivera, Marisol Ramirez

    4.35 ABR Score (328.3K ratings)
    ★ 4.3 Goodreads (325.3K) ★ 4.45 Audible (3.0K)
    18h 51m listening time • Released 2016
  8. 8
    The Godfather cover

    The Godfather

    The Godfather • Book 1

    by Mario Puzo

    Narrated by Joe Mantegna

    4.35 ABR Score (468.1K ratings)
    ★ 4.4 Goodreads (468.0K) ★ 4.88 Audible (128)
    18h 5m listening time • Released 2014

    Puzo's crime epic isn't just a novel about the Mafia — it's a story about power, family, and the American dream pursued by any means necessary.

  9. 9
    Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë Collection 1) cover

    Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë Collection 1)

    Jane Eyre • Book 1

    by Charlotte Brontë

    Narrated by Thandiwe Newton

    4.72 ABR Score (2.4M ratings)
    ★ 4.16 Goodreads (2.3M) ★ 4.8 Audible (21.8K)
    19h 10m listening time • Released 2016
  10. 10
    Crime and Punishment cover

    Crime and Punishment

    by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Constance Garnett - translator

    Narrated by Anthony Heald

    4.56 ABR Score (1.1M ratings)
    ★ 4.29 Goodreads (1.1M) ★ 4.6 Audible (10.4K)
    20h 28m listening time • Released 2007

    Dostoevsky's psychological masterwork follows a man who commits the 'perfect' murder and is destroyed not by justice but by his own conscience.

How We Rank Audiobooks

Rankings are driven by listener ratings and review counts from Audible and Goodreads. Books with high ratings across a large number of listeners rank higher — a 4.5 with 50,000 ratings says more than a 4.8 with 200.

Unlike most book lists, we weight audiobook-specific factors: narrator performance, production quality, and how well a story translates to audio. A great book with a poor narration isn't a great audiobook.

We don't accept paid placements or prioritize new releases. These rankings reflect what listeners actually enjoy, not what's being promoted.

Rankings update periodically as new ratings come in and new titles are added to the collection.

Read our full ranking methodology →