The second novel by Donna Tartt, nbsp;bestselling author of The Goldfinch (winner of the 2014 Pulitzer Prize),nbsp; The Little Friend nbsp; is a grandly ambitious and utterly riveting novel of childhood, innocence and evil.
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.
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.
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Publisher:
New York : Knopf, 2002.
Edition:
1st ed.
ISBN:
9781400031696
9780679439387
0679439382
9780679439387
0679439382
Branch Call Number:
FIC TARTT
Characteristics:
555 p. ; 24 cm.
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Add a CommentA young girl struggling to come to terms with her brothers death while growing up in a dysfunctional family. A little long winded but an absorbing look into the mind of a fiesty determined child.
The hatred some people have for this book is so surprising to me! It is every bit as well written as "The Secret History" and "The Goldfinch" and I would have to say that Harriet Cleve Dufresnes is arguably the most likable protagonist I have yet to come across.
While I enjoyed the book, I was completely dissatisfied and surprised by the weak ending. I felt cheated. I enjoyed her writing enough to try The Goldfinch, but haven't completed it yet--so far, so good!
AWFUL. Plot goes nowhere. Ms Tartt rambles on forever then suddenly, the book just ends. The editor should have said cut a lot of the irrelevant writing that has nothing to do with the storyline or add an epilogue to tie it all together and give a sense of closure (Maybe she was considering a sequel). I've read a lot of books and this is the worst one I've read!
I too did not finish it. I had to return it on its due date, but had no regret, since the story seemed at a point where it could well end -- at the end of chapter five.
The author is an excellent writer no doubt, I just can't finish her books..yet. I'm waiting on the "Goldfinch".
It seems to me the main story gets lost in the endless details, and some readers like that, others do not.
I can see why some readers say they couldn't finish it and why some may be disappointed when they do. That said Donna Tartt is a readers writer and this story is a period piece and a satisfying slice of life from a young girl's perspective.
I loved The Secret History but I couldn't finish this book. However, that won't stop me from borrowing Goldfinch when it's released. She can write, no doubt about that. I just couldn't get into The Little Friend.
Set in the 1970s in Mississippi, this story contains racial stereotypes and is cliched. At 555 pages, the author takes too long to tell her story. I felt no motivation to finish it.
This is a very good book, well written and funny. I really liked "The Secret History" and so tried this one. The author really manages to evoke a sense of plac and time and i absolutely adored the main character. Be prepared to finish the book with some central questions left unanswered.