The Goldfinch
by Donna Tartt
★ Top 10 book of 2013 · #6 on Best Books of 2013
Thirteen-year-old Theo Decker survives an accident that kills his mother and clings to a small, captivating painting that reminds him of her. As an adult he is drawn into the art underworld, where danger closes in around him.
Best for: Readers who like long, immersive literary novels with suspense, art, and emotional depth
The Goldfinch is #6 on BookWard's Best Books of 2013, out of 45 2013 books that cleared our data bar.
What The Goldfinch is about
Thirteen-year-old Theo Decker is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art with his mother, looking at Dutch masterpieces, when a bomb goes off. Theo survives, but his mother does not. In the confusion he leaves with a small, precious painting, Carel Fabritius's The Goldfinch, and a ring pressed on him by a dying stranger.
Told by Theo looking back, the novel follows him as he is taken in by a wealthy Park Avenue family, then dragged west to Las Vegas by his unreliable father. Along the way he forms bonds with people who matter to him, among them Hobie, Pippa, and the volatile Boris. Years later, grown up and carrying his troubles with him, he finds the past is not finished with him. Grief, guilt, addiction, and the pull of beautiful things run through this melancholy, immersive story.
The Goldfinch on the Best Books of 2013
The Goldfinch came out in 2013. Of the 45 books first published in 2013 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #6 on our Best Books of 2013 list.
Why it made the list: 889 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4 out of 5 (74 ratings); 47 are reading it right now. The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
Nearby on the 2013 list
- The Screaming Staircase Jonathan Stroud, #4
- Unravel Me Tahereh Mafi, #5
- Hopeless Colleen Hoover, #7
- Losing Hope Colleen Hoover, #8
See all Best Books of 2013 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 2012 Best Books of 2014.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 744 want to read it, 47 are reading it now and 98 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 4 out of 5 from 74 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 91 | 55% |
| Reader love | 44 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 89 | 20% |
Questions about The Goldfinch
When was The Goldfinch published?
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt was first published in 2013.
Was The Goldfinch one of the best books of 2013?
The Goldfinch is #6 on BookWard's Best Books of 2013, out of 45 2013 books that cleared our data bar. 889 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4 out of 5 (74 ratings); 47 are reading it right now.
Why is The Goldfinch on the Best Books of 2013 list?
889 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4 out of 5 (74 ratings); 47 are reading it right now.
More of the best books of 2013
- House of Hades Rick Riordan, #1
- Hard Luck Jeff Kinney, #2
- Crown of Midnight Sarah J. Maas, #3
- The Screaming Staircase Jonathan Stroud, #4
- Unravel Me Tahereh Mafi, #5
- Hopeless Colleen Hoover, #7
See the full Best Books of 2013, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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