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The Little Friend

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The Little Friend

By: Donna Tartt
Narrated by: Laurel Lefkow
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Summary

The second novel by Donna Tartt, best-selling author of The Goldfinch (winner of the 2014 Pulitzer Prize), The Little Friend 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.

©2002 Donna Tartt (P)2015 Audible, Ltd Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Fiction Scary
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Editor reviews

Winner of the WH Smith Literary Awards 2003, The Little Friend is written by Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt, with an audiobook narration by the brilliant voice artist Laurel Lefkow. A little boy is found murdered in the front garden of his Mississippi town, the mystery of his death never solved. His sister is the only person who delves deep into the very roots of the community to uncover his killer. This novel is all at once gripping, tense, suspenseful and addictive. It is the work of a master writer. Available now from Audible.

Critic reviews

"A dazzling tour de force” ( Daily Mail)
"Beautifully written and immaculately crafted ... even though there's humour, the tension is palpable. Unputdownable” ( Daily Mirror)
"Harriet is one of the most engaging and rounded characters you are likely to find ... gorgeous, fluent, visual." ( The Times)
All stars
Most relevant
Great slice of Americana. Brilliantly told, lovely characters and a cracking yarn.
Now I just have to wait ten years for the next Donna Tartt novel...
I really enjoyed it

Her third best book but still a wonderful story

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Exquisite writing. Beautiful with palpable tension from a child's innocent point of view. Highly recommend any word that Donna Tartt writes

Stunning

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Donna Tartt is the mistress of the convoluted story. This one is great - not quite as good as The Goldfinch, but I can't wait for her next book. She also tells a totally different story each time.

Excellent

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If you could sum up The Little Friend in three words, what would they be?

Enjoyable, long, intriguing.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Probably the main character. She was interesting, believable and I felt like I understood her decisions.

What does Laurel Lefkow bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Enthusiasm.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

It is a long book, however there are some fab moments including the snakes!
The beginning is quite sad and it is thought provoking.

Not her best but still a fab listen!

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

A recommendation by my friend led me to go through this slow moving story until the last 100 odd pages. Engaging and tantalising but left me with various emotions.

What could Donna Tartt have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Madam, you could have brought things around full circle. More clarity and the denouement was executed a little slovenly.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

GRIPPING. Fairly well read and paced. The accent grated somewhat but typical of I assumed the local region.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Not entirely. Felt like fast forwarding till I reached the good bits.

Any additional comments?

Could be better.

A slow build up and a fast steep end

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