The Goldfinch

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel that follows Theodore Theo Decker, a young boy whose life unravels after a terrorist bombing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art kills his mother and leaves him in possession of the priceless painting The Goldfinch by Carel Fabritius. Over the years, the stolen artwork becomes Theo’s secret talisman, anchoring him through a chaotic coming-of-age marked by foster care with a wealthy family, a neglectful stint in Las Vegas with his alcoholic father and friend Boris, and eventual apprenticeship with kindly antiques restorer Hobie in New York. As an adult, Theo navigates addiction, moral ambiguity in the art world, and desperate efforts to recover the painting after its loss, grappling with themes of loss, obsession, beauty, and fate in a richly detailed odyssey across America.