The Little Friend (Vintage Contemporaries) (original 2002; edition 2003)

I just couldn't stick with this at all ( )

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. ( )

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. ( )

I enjoyed this book but i thought that there were passages that were really draggued on. There was no sense of happiness and I was just depressed while reading it. I wasn't drawn to any caracters.

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. ( )