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    The Little Friend
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    The Little Friend
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    The Little Friend
    Ebook802 pages15 hours

    The Little Friend

    By Donna Tartt

    3.5/5

    ()

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    About this ebook

    _______________

    'In a literary age of diet and dearth, Tartt invites us to feast ... the opening tragedy strikes a note of rich, flamboyant Southern Gothic that resonates throughout' - Independent

    'You will rarely have read better ... Because of Tartt's mastery of suspense, this book will grip readers all the way through to its bitter end' - Guardian

    'Destined to become a special kind of classic - a book that precocious young readers pluck from their parents' shelves and devour with surreptitious eagerness, thrilled to discover a writer who seems at once to read their minds and to offer up the sweet-and-sour fruits of exotic, forbidden knowledge' - New York Times Book Review
    _______________

    A beautiful new limited edition paperback of The Little Friend, Donna Tartt's huge selling second novel, follow up to the worldwide bestseller The Secret History, published as part of the Bloomsbury Modern Classics list

    The sunlit rails gleamed like dark mercury, arteries branching out silver from the switch points; the old telegraph poles were shaggy with kudzu and Virginia creeper and, above them, rose the water tower, its surface all washed out by the sun. Harriet, cautiously, stepped towards it in the weedy clearing. Around and around it she walked, around the rusted metal legs.

    One day is never, ever discussed by the Cleve family. The day that nine-year-old Robin was found hanging by the neck from a tree in their front garden. Twelve years later the family are no nearer to uncovering the truth of what happened to him.

    Inspired by Houdini and Robert Louis Stevenson, twelve-year-old Harriet sets out to find her brother's murderer – and punish him. But what starts out as a child's game soon becomes a dangerous journey into the menacing underworld of a small Mississippi town.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBloomsbury Publishing
    Release dateSep 30, 2011
    ISBN9781408825082
    Unavailable
    The Little Friend
    Author

    Donna Tartt

    Donna Tartt is a novelist, essayist and critic. Her first novel, The Secret History, has been published in twenty-three countries.

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    Reviews for The Little Friend

    3.5/5

    68 ratings68 reviews

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    • 2/5
      Gracious! Less than a minute after finishing all I can say is: "Is that all there is? Really? Is. that. All. there. Is." This is Tartt's second novel--braced between her first & third in so many decades--& it is clearly her middle child, neglected in all sorts of ways.Don't get me wrong, Tartt is a very good hack. She structures periodic, multi-clausal sentences like a pro who's had ten years to revise them. EVERY sentence is unnecessarily effusively descriptive: twee-ly perfect & utterly gritless. To take but two random samplings as evidence:"Even now, Weenie's death had the waxy sheen of the linoleum in Edie's kitchen; it had the crowded feel of her glass-front cabinets (an audience of plates ranked in galleries, goggling helplessly); the useless cheer of red dishcloths and cherry-patterned curtains." (355)"Her blood pounded, her thoughts clattered and banged around her head like coins in a shaken piggy-bank and her legs were heavy, like running through mud or molasses in a nightmare and she couldn't make them go fast enough, couldn't make them go fast enough, couldn't tell if the crash and snap of twigs (like gunshots, unnaturally loud) was only the crashing of her own feet or feet crashing down the path behind her." (436)In sum: this unnecessarily lengthy book doesn’t deliver: she doesn’t resolve the primary mystery. Is it supposed to lead us to ask “interesting” questions like: “Is Tartt--like the director Michael Haneke--intentionally withholding from her audience?” “Is Tartt subtly mocking Brett Easton Ellis by refusing to gratify her audience’s interests?” “Did she forget to finish the novel?”I will listen if someone gives me reason to believe I am being ungenerous in my assessment of this novel.
    • 2/5
      Okay. Maybe I should have read the reviews before attempting this. Everyone, whether they loved or hated it, describes the book as slow and descriptive. Which is fine. Except for audio books that you need to hold your attention. I couldn't listen to this for more than 5- 10 minutes at a time. I'm not going to give up on Tartt yet, I still want to read her other book.
    • 2/5
      I just couldn't stick with this at all
    • 4/5
      It took me a long time to finish "The Little Friend"; although some parts could have been a little less detailed it was worth it. The book doesn't give you all the answers, but that's how life is. In some cases you will never know what really happened. At some times you really feel sorry for Harriet and you wonder where she finds the strength to carry on.
    • 5/5
      A 12-year-old detective would not be that unusual in a children's book, but "The Little Friend" by Donna Tartt is a book intended for adults.Nine-year-old Robin Dufresnes is murdered in his own yard in Alexandria, Miss., hung from a tree in the presence of his two little sisters, 4-year-old Allison and the infant Harriet. Neither child can tell what happened, and the mystery remains unsolved. Years later Harriet, urged in church to set a goal for the summer, decides to find out who killed her brother.She settles on one of the Ratliff boys who was in Robin's class at school. The four Ratliffs come from a family of lower-class ne'er-do-wells. Farish and Danny deal drugs. Eugene fancies himself a snake-handling preacher. The fourth brother is retarded. Harriet decides that Danny killed her brother and wants to see justice done by killing Danny.Most of the novel, which in paperback is more than 600 pages long, seems to have little to do with Robin's murder. This may try the patience of those looking for a traditional murder mystery, but I found the story of a family still broken apart by tragedy to be utterly fascinating.When Harriet confronts the Ratliffs in a series of dangerous adventures with narrow escapes, no reader will be disappointed. This is terrific stuff.Those expecting a clear resolution of the mystery — who did kill Robin Dufresnes? — won't find it here. Harriet, for all her intelligence, nerve and determination, is still a 12-year-old. Readers may see clues in the story that go over Harriet's head entirely."The Little Friend" is a good murder mystery, but it is an even better coming-of-age story. Harriet learns invaluable lessons, such as that playing God can be dangerous because, not actually being God, it is too easy to make mistakes. She is left with the unsettling conviction that she may have been wrong about Danny Ratliff.In a delicious irony at the end we see that her friend Hely, who has all but worshipped Harriet throughout the story, is more convinced than ever that she is a genius. Harriet herself knows better.
    • 4/5

      It's a small Mississippi town in the latter part of the 1970s. A decade or more ago, when Harriet was just a baby, her elder brother was found hanging from a tree; the murder, if murder it was, has never been solved. Now she's a headstrong tomboy, quite capable of intimidating most of the adults around her, and worshipped by a younger boy, Hely. Having read plenty of Sherlock Holmes for practical tips, she sets out -- with Hely as her distinctly unreliable Watson -- to catch her brother's murderer and exact vengeance. Her attention soon focuses on a local family of petty and not-so-petty criminals, the Ratliffs. To begin with she underestimates the dangers of investigating the Ratliffs; in later stages of the book it becomes alarmingly clear to her and us that she's stepped into a vipers' nest and will be lucky to escape with her life.

      Talking of vipers, one of the funniest segments of this novel -- which skilfully blends humour into its high drama -- concerns a visiting snakehandler, enticed to town by the fundamentalist bible-thumper Ratliff brother Eugene, unaware that one of his brothers has plans to put the snake crates to nefarious use. In the end, it's Harriet who puts the snakes themselves to near-lethal use. But this book is so rich with memorable sequences that it seems misleading to single one out; a particular subtext that I enjoyed was the understated notion that the institutionalized racism pertaining in Mississippi during the decades leading up to this story was a tool of repression that had been used to destroy the lives of poor whites and blacks alike, only most of the whites were too ill-educated or themselves too racist to recognize what was going on.

      The writing's for the most part pretty wonderful (albeit marred by the occasional annoying grammatical lapse, notably the lay/laid error), and there are scenes toward the end of the book that make it plain Tartt could have had a successful career as a thriller writer had she so chosen: genuine white-knuckle stuff.
    • 4/5
      Inevitably,The Little Friend, Tartt's second novel have had a hard time living up to her first one, the juggernaut that is [The Secret History], and when all is said and done, it kind of doesn't.This isn’t to say that it’s bad, by any means. The Little Friend is well-crafted, and gripping with a southern gothic feel of old glory and slow decay that you can't help yourself getting drawn into. The gallery of characters is rich and diversified and together with the suggestive and vivid descriptions of the town and almost gives the whole thing the feel of a collective novel.The plot has that same kind of slow buildup towards an inevitable crescendo, like an oncoming thunderstorm, that made [The Secret History] so excruciatingly good, but this time its unfortunately feels a bit directionless - events plod along, but with no real sense of connection between them, which is both fascinating in a way, but also distracting. The final act, while not exactly underwhelming, at the end falls a bit flat and I, at least, never got any real sense of closure of payoff. Many of the characters arcs where really understated and subtle, and while I understand that this was probably the point it didn't quite mesh with the grand scale of the main plot. In the end, very little got resolved, no mysteries where solved, and nothing really had changed.It’s worth reading if you’re into southern gothic, of if you really liked The Little Friend> (and frankly, who didn’t?)
    • 3/5
      I was beginning to think I'd never see the end of this book. This is the third book I've read by Donna Tartt and I'm sad to say it's my least favorite. Definitely not up to par with The Secret History and The Goldfinch both of which I thought were excellent. This story takes place in Mississippi in the 70's a decade after Harriet's older brother Robin was found hanged in their yard. His death remains an unexplained mystery for the family as well as the small town where they live. Although only twelve years old Harriet realizes the impact her brother's death has had on her family. Raised predominantly by her grandmother, Harriet and her sister know their mother has not been well since that eventful day. Their father no longer lives at home but lives near his work in Nashville and only shows up on the rare occasion. Frustrated and consumed by unanswered questions, Harriet sets out to find her brother's killer and punish him. Enlisting her friend Hely they pursue the man she thinks killed her brother and in doing so risk their own lives repeatedly. I enjoyed the sections about Harriet and her family but not so much the parallel story of "the killer" and his family. I grew weary of the ceaseless chronicles of their unfortunate lives. It felt like it was just a lot of the same repeating itself and thus the pages never seem to end.
    • 4/5
      A great read. Likeable and complex characters and an involving story.
    • 3/5
      This is an orginal story but it took m nearly 3 weeks to read. The main character is Harriet who is 12 years old very clever and wants to discover who killed her older brother when she was a baby. She has a vivid imagination and thinks she knows who killed him. She and her little friend Hely try to unravel this mystery. Harriet is surrounded by women her Mum,sister her Granny Edie and all her auntys. There is a dodgy scummy family called the Ratliff, Harriet and Hely spy on them, one day they throw a snake at the Ratliffs car but instead of targeting one of the dodgy sons the snake bites the old granny. Harriet runs off to camp, comes back gets in a big scrape with one of the sons. She needs to go to hospital. I did enjoy this book but it annoyed tha you never find out who killed Robin, Harriets brother.
    • 2/5
      Strange book. Almost boring. 'When will something happen?!'Very disappointed. Finished it, but don't ask me how long it took me.
    • 3/5
      Spoilers!I think this book works a nice companion piece to her first novel Secret History. Both books tackle a murder and its subsequent players in an interesting and sometimes frustrating way. For instance, in The Secret History those responsible for the murder are revealed in the first chapter of the book and in contrast with The Little Friend its never revealed who the murderer was. Overall I liked the book and look forward to her next one!
    • 2/5
      Not nearly as compelling or ethereal as The Secret History; and the ending falls flat with a splat.
    • 5/5
      This is one of my favorite books ever. I fell in love with Harriet--and Donna Tartt--almost immediately. (I read this one before reading The Secret History.)
    • 4/5
      Donna Tartt writes beautifully. Truly she is a master, a wordsmith. With each paragraph in this book, I grew more impressed with her nearly overwhelming talent.This story is set in the deep South. It captures so well some of the elements I'd rather forget and other things that made me smile. (Oddly, I was surprised at the detail in her descriptions of southern trees and plants. My memories of the South, which I moved away from as soon as I could, are lacking in this regard.)The main character, young Harriet, I found easy to relate to. She's smart and not a push-over. Definitely not the Southern Belle, "speak when spoken to" type. She never says what she's expected to and often disagrees with adults when she thinks they are wrong, which they often are. She's also painfully alone, isolated beyond description. I felt so sorry for her, and yet, identified with her completely.I read "The Secret History" about a month ago. This book is in some ways completely different and in other ways quite similar. In "The Secret History" I pretty much hated every character, which was not the case with "The Little Friend." That said, the ending of "Secret History" was better. "The Little Friend's" ending, to me, was somewhat unsatisfying.Still, she's a wonderful writer and I cannot wait to read "The Goldfinch" to see where Ms Tartt takes us next... I hope she doesn't wait another 10 years before publishing her next book!
    • 1/5
      Donna Tartt is three for three. Let the judging begin!

      Tartt is a wonderful writer. Her prose is absolutely beautiful. With that being said, she needs an editor badly; someone to reel her in when she begins to wax poetically into a never-ending stream of consciousness. The reason why Tartt gets away with ridiculously long narratives because of how well written it actually is and, in another 10 years when her next novel comes out, the masses will clamour on how it is the greatest thing since the pre sliced bagel.

      The Little Friend, just like The Secret History and The Goldfinch, started out strongly usually with a death. Nine year old Robin is found hanged on a Mother's Day afternoon. The event deeply affects the Cleve Dufrenes family for many year culminating in Robin's youngest sister, Harriet, investigating and zeroing in on the Meth making and dealing Ratcliff family. Specifically on Danny Ratcliff since he was the same age as Robin and apparently did mean things to Robin.

      Now, for people expecting this to be a mystery will be sorely disappointed. SPOILER ALERT: Robin's killer is never revealed. That I could easily get over. The crux of the story was how Robin's senseless death continues to keep his family stagnant, as it did with his mother Charlotte and sister Allison, or change them fundamentally as it did with his grandmother Edie.

      The Little Friend is a Southern Gothic family drama and if Tartt had stood with the Cleve Dufrenes clan, I might have been a tad kinder with this review. However, she felt the need to give the Ratcliff family equal share and the introduction to the world's most boring drug dealing family happened.

      Reading this novel was like having a fever induced dream. There were moments of luidity like just how much the family changed, Harriet's obsession with Danny, Harriet's isolation in camp, Libby's death but the everything else bored or confused me greatly. Can anyone tell me when this book takes place? I swear I couldn't pin it down. I hated the Ratcliffs, the Odoms, and Hely! God Hely was so annoying! I was hoping he would upset a behive, get stunned, and die My Girl style but no.

      The Little Friend was about 610 pages. I believe that I deserved a better ending than the one I got. What the hell was that? I can say confidently that I am never reading another Tartt novel. No more.
    • 5/5
      Now that I have completed all three of Tartt's books, it's going to be difficult waiting another ten years for her to publish another one. "The Little Friend" was very enjoyable to me. Having lived in Mississippi for quite a while myself, I could literally FEEL and completely understand every bit of the atmosphere that Tartt was expressing and she does it to a frightening perfection. The people, the weather, the way of life, the sounds... they all radiate right out of the pages. I adored Harriet. I could relate to Harriet; her curious, serious nature despite being so young. The childhood nostalgia of this book was welcoming as well, even in the most frightening moments when the evil adult world clashes with the innocence of youth. Tartt did a remarkable job portraying the feel of the transition from innocent childhood into awkward adolescence-- not realizing it's happening until it's too late and you're looking back at a sealed door. There's mystery, sadness, wonder and terror laced through-out the entire novel. I could feel it in my bones.
    • 5/5
      Fans of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History will not be disappointed. This time she nails down a whole town, from the faded gentility of the upper class suburbs, to the redneck, downtown, trailer-trash poor. The novel is both deeply absorbing and breathlessly exciting as Ms Tartt once again faultlessly explores a time (the early 70s), a place, (small-town southern U.S.A.) and a murder. Harriet Cleve Dufresnes is 12 years old. Ten years ago her elder brother Robin was brutally killed in his own back yard as the family gathered for Thanksgiving. No one was caught for the crime, the police were baffled and it became accepted that this was one of those random, horrific killings that descend arbitrarily because that’s the way of the world. But Harriet, bored, clever, neglected, thinks she’s found a clue in the photograph of one of Robin’s classmates and a combination of gossip and coincidence. At the start of her summer holiday, Harriet decides that she will be the agent of revenge. The plot is rambling, exhausting, yet wholly, delightfully, readable, and the characters, every one of a very large cast, stand out strongly as believable, fallible, rounded human beings. It’s a very long book (555 pages of sheer compulsion) but I wished it were longer and several of the characters have stayed with me, living on in my imagination as I wondered, particularly of the children, what they would become as they grew up. It took Tartt ten years to write this book – let’s hope the next one comes faster.
    • 3/5
      Audio book and read by the author, very well I might add. Wasn't too bad and had this southern lit flavour.
    • 4/5
      An exceptionally well-drawn and imaginative portrait of life in a (possibly not very typical) Southern family. For me the plot also reached a satisfactory conclusion, even if some readers found it disappointingly anticlimactic.
    • 4/5
      Not as good as the Secret History, but it's still a very good book - that's my one line review for this :) I liked it but having read the Secret History first I was slightly disappointed. However taken on its own merits, it is a clever, engaging story and an impressive manipulation of teh reader's expectations and understanding, not to mention our emotions. Well worth the read.
    • 3/5
      The protagonist is well-developed and sympathetic as well as entertaining but this book doesn't resonate with the same suspense and intrigue that made The Secret History so spectacular. I might have enjoyed The Little Friend more if my expectations had not been so high after reading The Secret History. The Little Friend seems to have fallen prey to the curse of sophomore efforts. This isn't to say that I am not eagerly awaiting Tartt's next publication even though it might be some time in the distant future if the length of time between her first two novels is any indication.My advice: read The Little Friend first and The Secret History second.
    • 4/5
      Harriet is a great character - I loved reading about her. The story was good, but slow in parts, though it really picked up at the end. The suspense of the last 100 pages kept me from putting the book down, but the ending was a disappointment. I didn't feel resolution from any of the major points I wanted clarified.
    • 3/5
      I'm not sure what to say about this one . . . part mystery, part horror story, part southern gothic . . . don't judge the book by its cover, though, the cover picture is terrible.
    • 4/5
      I liked this a lot more than her more popular book, THE SECRET HISTORY.
    • 2/5
      Same problem as Paint it black - too many words, not enough story. I didn't enjoy it, although it is well written, the story ends abruptly. Left me dissatisfied.
    • 2/5
      Too slow, did not finish it. Donna Tartt is a talented writer, but this book was in need of an editor.
    • 2/5
      I really didn't get this book at all. Yes, it was well-written and engaging enough, but the conclusion left me feeling rather annoyed that I'd persevered until the end.
    • 1/5
      Well written but so soul-crushingly depressing and unredeemed that I was actually physically affected. I know it's been well reviewed but I can't recommend it, in good conscience.
    • 3/5
      In itself I suppose this book held its own, but having read it after Secret History I was bitterly disappointed. It had nothing of the complex characterisation I was expecting.