During the course of reading this book I read an interview with Donna Tartt published shortly after its publication. The author stated that she had never cared about being a prolific writer, that she labored for years over each book. She writes sentence by sentence looking for just the right word (sounds like Flaubert). I began to read The Little Friend more carefully and take note of her style. I found many visual images and similes and metaphors which struck me as just right. (for example, she describes death as a collapsed bridge gaping in the dark). Aside from a few pages describing strung-out meth head delusions I read each page and was sorry when the novel came to an end. I will miss Harriet and should the author ever write a second novel about her I would gladly read it. I have read that a third Tartt novel will come out in 2012 and I look forward to it.