The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

The Goldfinch

A Novel (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction)

Donna Tartt

Grief, art, and shifting worlds give this novel an immersive, psychologically layered pull.

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Themes
Grief and loss, Obsession, Survival and self-invention
Pacing
Fast

Art and Aftermath

Come here for

  • The uneasy pull between beauty, wealth, and danger.
  • A sustained reading experience shaped by loss and obsession.

Expect

  • A layered, psychologically charged immersion.

Where it sits

How strongly BookFrontier reads the book as belonging to each subject.

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For younger readers: The Book Thief, I'll Give You the Sun, Paper Towns

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About this book

A young New Yorker grieving his mother's death is pulled into a gritty underworld of art and wealth in this “extraordinary” and beloved novel that "connects with the heart as well as the mind" (Stephen King, New York Times Book Review ), named a New York Times Best Book of the 21st Century. Theo Decker, a 13-year-old New Yorker, miraculously survives an accident that kills his mother. Abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend.

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Bewildered by his strange new home on Park Avenue, disturbed by schoolmates who don't know how to talk to him, and tormented above all by a longing for his mother, he clings to the one thing that reminds him of her: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into a wealthy and insular art community. As an adult, Theo moves silkily between the drawing rooms of the rich and the dusty labyrinth of an antiques store where he works. He is alienated and in love — and at the center of a narrowing, ever more dangerous circle. The Goldfinch is a mesmerizing, stay-up-all-night and tell-all-your-friends triumph, an old-fashioned story of loss and obsession, survival and self-invention. From the streets of New York to the dark corners of the art underworld, this "soaring masterpiece" examines the devastating impact of grief and the ruthless machinations of fate (Ron Charles, Washington Post ). Read more

Publisher details

Publisher categories

  • Gay Fiction
  • Coming-of-Age
  • Family Life
Authors
Donna Tartt
Publisher
Little, Brown and Company
Published
October 22, 2013
Format
Print & ebook
Reading lane
Gay Fiction