Harriet's 9-year-old brother Robin was murdered when she was just four months old and the murder was never solved. Twelve years later, the mysterious tragedy still weighs on the family (Harriet's mother wanders despondently from room to room, living on a diet of peppermint ice cream and antidepressants, while her sister Allison sleeps constantly; Harriet's dad avoids the family altogether, having moved to a different city for work and taking up with a mistress). Perhaps because of this murder's effect on her family, Harriet decides to spend her summer vacation solving the murder (aided only by her pal Hely) and exacting revenge on the person who killed her brother. Enter some snake-handling preachers and a few drug-addled meth producers, and Harriet's summer investigation takes a dangerous turn.
I'd heard wonderful things about this book for ages and just now finally got around to reading it. I've got to say, I enjoyed Tartt's characters, all of which are fully formed, even if their motivations aren't always clear. Harriet, in particular, is the kind of too-smart-for-her-own-good kid that I immediately fell in love with. She's so serious and not particularly likeable, but Tartt makes you root for her anyway. I really didn't know where this story was going, and that's a good thing. My only complaint is the sheer number of snakes. Much like Indiana Jones, I kept thinking, "Why does it have to be snakes?" Tartt's clear, evocative writing makes them too realistic, to the point that I had to set the book down for a bit. Of course, if you don't mind snakes, you probably won't have a problem with this one.
No comments:
Post a Comment