The Little Friend
by Donna Tartt
(read by Laurel Lefkow)
Audible Studios
(audiobook)

Donna Tartt's second novel is probably her least well-known: is sandwiched between her firebrand debut, , and the much-debated , which is either a work of genius or the work of a child, depending on whom you believe. Her 2002 sophomore effort is filtered through the consciousness of 12-year-old Harriet Cleve Dufresnes who attempts to avenge her brother Robin's death a decade before. Harriet was only a baby when, on Mother's Day in a Mississippi town, the nine-year-old boy was found hanged on a tree in their garden. Harriet decides that Robin's killer was his "little friend" Danny Ratliff, who ended up as a meth dealer with a bad reputation. Her reasoning is spurious, fired by emotion rather than proof. The twist arrives when Harriet is seen through Danny's eyes and the tables begin to turn. Laurel Lefkow reads Tartt's nuanced tale of family grief and breakdown with almost annoying stateliness, but her honeyed tones and convincing Southern accents help. A fine book finely read.

Love, Sex & Other Foreign Policy Goals
by Jesse Armstrong
(read by Chris Addison)
Whole Story
(audiobook)

is the first novel by Jesse Armstrong, who wrote hit TV sitcoms such as and political satire . Our hero, Andrew, is sort of engaged in world events and desperate to make a difference, mainly to impress a girl. Like many youngish people in the 1990s, he decides a theatrical event is the way forward (a Peace Play), and heads to Bosnia with a group of slightly wealthier and more confident friends. Andrew's motivation is Penny, whose brother Von tags along for sexual kicks of a most exacting sort. The joke is on the players, but Armstrong is never cruel. This is a novel about how experience shows us the limits of what we think, of how "comically distant" yoofs can't always keep a straight face. There is also quite a lot of toilet humour. Chris Addison, who starred in , is the ideal reader. His reedy voice is made for Armstrong's knowing observational wit. Armstrong is funny but also humane. If the novel tires a little, it is only a little.