Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of The Little Friend

The Little Friend
The Little Friend
Author: Donna Tartt
Genre: Literature & Fiction
Book Type: Paperback


The writing is beautiful. If you aren't a southerner, you will quickly get the feel of the place just from Tartt's descriptive passages. The characters, especially our heroine, a pre-teen girl obsessed with what may be the murder of her brother when he was 9 yrs old, are sharply drawn. Each of the old aunts, who initially seem to be just little old ladies, become their very own character with gripping life stories. I read 616 pages breathless to see what would eventually play out. She is quite an adventurous child, willful and quick-witted, and some life-changing events take place as she begins to grow up. But - at page 617 - we begin to resolve things. And I won't spoil the story other to say that 'resolving things' must mean something different to the author than it does to me.