A Little Life is a 2015 novel by American novelist Hanya Yanagihara. The novel was written over the course of eighteen months. Despite the length and difficult subject matter, it became a bestseller.
Secrecy is a central theme in the novel because Jude hides most of the details of his past even from his closest circle, including Harold and his friends. When Jude meets the rest of his friend circle in college, he is extremely vague about his past, his family, and any possibility that he might have a romantic life.