Dark academia is an aesthetic spanning several genres of literature: literary fiction, Gothic literature, SFFF literature and especially the fantastic & fantasy (I have yet to read dark academia science-fiction, but that sounds like something of interest). It deals with the pursuit of knowledge, often in an academic setting, the love for libraries and old buildings, classic literature and all periods of History. In this type of stories, there is often an intense mystery surrounding the object of study, a mystery which in its turn is often, but not always, tied to a crime.
As an academic-in-training myself, I’m often drawn to this atmosphere as a way to romanticise my own not-so-romantic studies. Reading about characters deeply passionate about their subjects rekindles my passion for studying in general, since I’m never short of passion for my subject but find myself not so motivated by the actual writing of my thesis.
Donna Tartt’s The Secret History is often credited as the book that coined the aesthetic, and it certainly ticks all the boxes. I found it a fascinating book, gorgeously written. It primarily deals with a passion for a research subject turning into an unhealthy obsession, and the equally unhealthy relationships forming between the students of an elite university under the tutelage of a less-than-commendable teacher.
The Secret History wasn’t born into a void, and so one can find traces of similar themes in older stories, but since it is an aesthetic turned towards the past, classic books are more often the focus of dark academia fiction rather than dark academia fiction themselves.
Books I’ve read and can recommend
Leigh Bardugo, Ninth House
A.S. Byatt, Possession
Marina & Sergey Dyachenko, Vita Nostra
Deborah Harkness, A Discovery of Witches
Elizabeth Kostova, The Historian
Patricia A. McKillip, Alphabet of Thorn
Philip Pullman, His Dark Materials
Elif Shafak, Three Daughters of Eve
Donna Tartt, The Secret History
Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind
Classics I’ve read
Bram Stoker, Dracula
Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead Revisited
Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Books on my wishlist or my To-Be-Read list
Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, Ace of Spades
Naomi Alderman, The Lessons
Emily M.Danforth, Plain Bad Heroines
Tracy Deonn, Legendborn
Lev Grossman, The Magicians
Kasischke, Laura : The Raising
Kleinbaum, N.H., Dead Poets Society
Victoria Lee, A Lesson in Vengeance
Hermine Lefebvre, Cathédrale
Lisa Lutz, The Swallows
Alex Michaelides, The Maidens
Naomi Novik, A Deadly Education
M.L. Rio, If We Were Villains
Morgan Rogers, Honey Girl
Dorothy L. Sayers, Gaudy Night
V.E. Schwab, Vicious and its sequel Vengeful
Elisabeth Thomas, Catherine House
John Williams, Stoner
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