The Little Friend

By: Donna Tartt

Narrated by: Karen White

Length: 25 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Goldfinch comes an utterly riveting novel set in Mississippi of childhood, innocence, and evil. • “Destined to become a special kind of classic.” —The New York Times Book Review

The setting is Alexandria, Mississippi, where one Mother’s Day a little boy named Robin Cleve Dufresnes was found hanging from a tree in his parents’ yard. Twelve years later Robin’s murder is still unsolved and his family remains devastated. So it is that Robin’s sister Harriet—unnervingly bright, insufferably determined, and unduly influenced by the fiction of Kipling and Robert Louis Stevenson--sets out to unmask his killer. Aided only by her worshipful friend Hely, Harriet crosses her town’s rigid lines of race and caste and burrows deep into her family’s history of loss. Filled with hairpin turns of plot and “a bustling, ridiculous humanity worthy of Dickens” (The New York Times Book Review), The Little Friend is a work of myriad enchantments by a writer of prodigious talent.

©2002 Donna Tartt (P)2002 Books On Tape, Inc.

Critic reviews

2003, Orange Prize for Fiction, Nominated

"This extraordinary book [has] a main character, a twelve-year-old girl named Harriet Cleve Dufresnes, who ranks up there with Huck Finn, Miss Havisham, Quentin Compson, and Philip Marlowe, fictional characters who don't seem in the least fictional.... To Kill a Mockingbird If is the childhood that everyone wanted and no one really had, The Little Friend is childhood as it is, by turns enchanting and terrifying." (Malcolm Jones, Newsweek)

"Breathtaking... A sublime tale rich in religious overtones, moral ambiguities, and violent, poetic acts... From its darkly enticing opening, we are held spellbound." (Lisa Shea, Elle)

"Languidly atmospheric...psychologically acute...A rich novel that takes you somewhere worth going." (The New Yorker)

"It is an exceptionally suspenseful, flawlessly written story." (Booklist)

Narrator voice is a distraction

Unfortunately I couldn’t get past the narration of Karen White to get into the story. There is a strange sing song cadence in her voice that is really distracting to me. I might give it a go another time but for now I can’t seem to past it so I’m going to give up on the story. I might end up bypassing the audible version and read the print version instead.

Great performance bringing characters to life

This was a fun read and the performance was stellar. So many twists and turns. Very entertaining

What the he**?!?

This is like the start of 4 different stories that she just jammed together. The story drags on FOREVER and then there is no real ending. Are we supposed to think all of this was not real? Or how does the ending even apply to this book?!

Did not like it at all. And will not read another book by this author. She drones on forever about trivial things that do not move the story forward.

Very enjoyable

Interesting and unique story. Harriet would be a very interesting adult. Some parts went on longer than necessary and a few characters were introduced who seemed to have no point. But most characters were incredibly interesting. Overall I enjoyed the many hours I spent listening.

Compelling listen

Southern Gothic with memorable characters. Fabulous voice talent reading the book. I thought this was more compelling than her first novel, although less so than the Goldfinch, which is one of my favorite books.

What the heck??

I always try to finish a book. In fact, it is rare that I do not ‘force-feed’ it. But this is that rare time. I have nine hours to go and I still have not figured out one worthwhile person/incident/geography, etc. to care about. Sure, I understand it has to do with white trash and rural black but so what? It reveals nothing about IT.. It just is. I could give a darn about any character. The Goldfinch was one of my favorite books by Donna Tartt or any other author. Unless I read
intelligent, carefully written thorough reviews on her newest book, or subsequent ones, I will not be wasting another audible point on her writings.

Mixed feelings.

I was excited to listen because I adore The Secret History and The Goldfinch. This is not as captivating. The sentences are beautifully crafted and the depictions of the setting and characters are detailed masterfully, as one could expect from Tartt. But the story just…ends? I really am confused especially about Allison (Harriet’s sister)—many characters are just forgotten about. You never learn who the murderer is! The beginning makes you feel you will eventually figure it out, and that’s what I held onto almost the entire story. Harriet and Healy are wonderful characters who made me laugh and I loved them, as well as the aunts, Harriet’s mother etc. The characters make for an interesting read but overall the plot could use some editing and tweaking…unless of course there is just something I’m missing. It almost feels like a short story in composure, but it’s NOT short at all. I feel this could have been told in half the time. I really enjoyed the narration, but I suppose that’s very hit or miss. I think once you get used to Karen White’s voice and cadence, it’s actually quite calming and expressive.

Narrator distracts from the story

I just finished The Goldfinch and enjoyed it immensely, so thought I would enjoy The Little Friend. It is set in the south and the narrator has a very distracting southern accent. I am a southerner myself, but could not identify what the accent was supposed to be. But the worst part was that every sentence sounded like it had an exclamation point at the end(!) It was so artificial that I could not pay attention to the story. I quit after a few chapters and bought the hardcover book.

Harper Lee She Aint

Where does The Little Friend rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Near the middle. (Some of my favorite audiobooks were written by Charles Dickens and John Grisham...Tartt doesn't quite measure up.)

What did you like best about this story?

The main character, Harriet was fun. She reminded me off my mother so thoroughly that Harriet even looks like Mom. This means she's tough, calculating, and sure to win in the end. She was written very well as a Southern tomboy, which is a very difficult thing to be given the nature of Southern mothers. I'm sorry Edie didn't insist that Harriet participate in that Southern staple, the beauty pageant.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Karen White?

I'm not sure about that. I was very disappointed in the narration primarily because White didn't do her homework. As another reviewer from the Deep South said, she mispronounced many Southernisms which made me laugh and lose the story line every time. Kudzu is pronounced KUDzoo, not Could-zoo. The Mississippi County is pronounced OK-tibbe-HA, not okti-BE-ha. And like the other reviewer, when White mentioned the fish whose name is pronounced Craw-pee, I immediately imagined the little feller swimmin' 'round in the commode.

I'm equally unhappy with Tartt for allowing this bastardization of the Southern dialect. I haven't been so shaken by poor pronunciation since Bill O'Reilly, in Killing Lincoln, talked at length about horse soldiers in the Civil War - you know, the guys in the CALvary. (Shudder.) I guess I should read Killing Jesus to see if the virgin Mary's son died on Cavelry.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me laugh often. I'm just not sure if I laughed in the right places.

Any additional comments?

I've purchased the last of Tartt's three books. I'm reserving my overall opinion until I've finished it. I think she has an amazing talent. I just wonder how many junkies she had to interview in order to get so thoroughly inside their heads.

Left wanting a little more

Overall I enjoyed the book, but the set up led me to expect something more. It was definitely interesting.