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)

The bleakest book I have ever read.

I feel like this is a book everyone should read, because of the way it portrays uneducated society and what that does to people, what it’s like to be trapped in that setting that’s honestly like quicksand. Honestly, in the end of the book, a character gets trapped in a water tower for two whole days, desperately keeping his head above the dirty water, and really, that could be taken as a metaphor for what life is like in that environment.

But I feel like the majority of people wouldn’t be able to see anything but the racism, that the white characters are all terrible people and that the author is terrible for showing them in any sort of sympathetic light.

But that’s part of the point — the racism is horrible, the narrative understands that it’s horrible, so why do these otherwise decent people do it? Why can’t they see that it’s wrong? And why do they beat their kids, etc.?

The main character, 12, thinks at one point in the novel that every adult she knows seems like they had the life and energy sucked out of them at some point. That they all just accept that life is terrible and everyone’s out to get you, so you just have to toughen up and accept it. Some put a religious spin on it, “it’s in god’s plan” etc.

This is the point — people do those terrible things, those things that we can see are wrong, because those things are normal to them. Kids, like the protagonist, will point out the obvious injustice and inconsistency, the same way she points out and asks how scientists know what dinosaurs looked like. And adults will beat the kids and silence them and tell them it’s not their place to ask such things. And the kids will eventually break and stop asking and accept, and that’s what it means to be an adult in a society.

I want people to read this book, but I don’t want them to look at those people and feel superior for not sharing all of their faults. I want you to look at the things that you do that are normal in your life, in your micro-society, your town, your office, your neighborhood, your friend group, and ask “but why?”. That’s what people should take away from this.

Not one of my favorites

I loved The Goldfinch so I thought I would try another one of her books. It seemed to move at a slow pace. Parts were exciting but overall I found it disappointing. I couldn't wait to finish it so I could move on to the next book.

Been There, Experienced That

Having grown up in Georgia during the 1950’s and 60’s, I have experienced most of the people depicted in the book, except for the meth folks. The author really knows Southern families and white trash.

just the best

first of all the narrator is awesome and second of all this is one of the most entertaining books I've ever read! I love the setting I love the plot and most of all I love the characters. The narrator does a great job in bringing everyone to life and me being from the south myself so many of these names and sayings ring a bail of remembrance

Long and unsatisfying

There are glimpses of her future brilliance but overall it was long and meandering and ultimately not satisfying.

Try speeding up narration to 1.25

I loved the story, the characters and the descriptions. Had it not been for the very disappointing non-ending, this would be my favorite book ever. Initially, I had a hard time with the narration and found my mind wandering. I sped it up to 1.25 and was immediately pulled in. It made a huge difference. The narration was wonderful at a faster pace.

What??????

The goldfinch was my first read by Donna Tartt, and I should have relished in that instead of rushing to read all of Donna Tartts work. This was so disappointing toward the end. It didn't tie up any loose ends, not offer much closure. Beautifully written, and amazing detail, but I felt it needed another few chapters.

Extraordinary

Donna Tart is a high wire act! The Little Friend needs to be read and reread as it contains worlds. I've finally figured out who did it. The clues are in the first chapter, so pay attention. Figure it out or not, all in all it does not matter if you are a lover of literature. Her Goldfinch is a masterpiece, and I'm about to read The Secret History. She carries the Dickens' mantle (from the American south) and her descriptions take you deep into the psyches of her characters. There are ten years between the publishing of her novels and that, in itself, says a lot.

Couldn't put it down

What made the experience of listening to The Little Friend the most enjoyable?

The richly drawn cast of characters is I think the main strength of this book. If you've ever spent time in the South, especially during the time frame she's set this story in, you will agree I think that she really nails it about how people interact, what small towns were like there, etc. The book revolves around an event that takes place (in memory) within the first chapter or so. The rest of the book is loosely organized around the mysterious circumstances that surround that event, a death. Eleven (?) year old Harriet, the central character, is worth the read all by herself. Donna Tarrt could not have done a better job in bringing her to life and making you care deeply about her. I laughed a lot as her thought processes unfolded, as she engaged in her amateur sleuth work, and as she enlisted the help of her adoring young friend with her plans. One reviewer mentioned Nancy Drew. Hardly. This is an adult book, with adult themes. I would challenge those who said it was too long to detail what parts of the plot/story they would have edited out. My book group could not come up with anything they'd have taken out, even though the length of the book is a bit daunting. It is a gripping story and you care deeply about many of the characters. The ending for many, including several in my book group, felt very unsatisfying, I will grant you that. But as we talked about it, we decided that this book was less mystery than it is a study of a time and a place and the ways in which people come to wrong conclusions based on their prejudices, misconceptions, and miscommunications. Those wrong conclusions change whole lives and can be tragic. Many things DO NOT get

Beautiful writing, but story loses its way

Any additional comments?

If I had been reading this novel, I might have put it down, since the story wanders and drifts. But listening to Karen White reading made it a much smoother ride. Tartt paints a lovely world, and she captures the spirit of childhood. No, check that. She nails it 100%. The characters bleed off the page, as does the setting. But don't expect a page turner, based on the opening paragraph.