• The Goldfinch

  • By: Donna Tartt
  • Narrated by: David Pittu
  • Length: 32 hrs and 24 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (41,250 ratings)

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The Goldfinch  By  cover art

The Goldfinch

By: Donna Tartt
Narrated by: David Pittu
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Editorial review


By Sam Danis, Audible Editor

THE GOLDFINCH IS A COMING-OF-AGE EPIC THAT WILL STEAL YOUR HE(ART)

The Goldfinch was one of the first novels I listened to when I started working at Audible nearly a decade ago. I joined the team in September, and with this title releasing in a month’s time, I remember what a very big deal it was that a new Donna Tartt book was forthcoming (she only publishes about once a decade, after all). The plot is gripping: During a bombing at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, two events alter the course of 13-year-old Theo Decker’s life. His mother—the most prominent figure in his life—is killed, and he grabs the painting they were there to see (the titular Goldfinch by Carel Fabritius), thereby becoming an accidental art thief. What follows is a coming-of-age story of epic proportions—about fate, loss, consequences, and the intangibility of home and family. It is at turns sentimental, suspenseful, melancholy, and hopeful.

I watched as the glowing reviews poured in, with no real intention to listen myself. A 32-hour audiobook seemed incredibly daunting when I was new to the world of audio entertainment—primarily, a podcast and short audiobook listener. And this, after all, was literary fiction.

Why did I ultimately decide to pick it up? I can’t recall exactly, but I imagine it had something to do with peer pressure. My fellow editors and I influence each other in the best of ways—nobody wants to be the last one to hear something truly amazing—and I think it was our fiction editor, Tricia, who first sung the praises of this one. So, I buckled in (read: put on my headphones) and prepared for whatever was to come.

Continue reading Sam's review >

Publisher's summary

Audie Award Winner, Solo Narration - Male, 2014

Audie Award Winner, Literary Fiction, 2014

The author of the classic best-sellers The Secret History and The Little Friend returns with a brilliant, highly anticipated new novel.

Composed with the skills of a master, The Goldfinch is a haunted odyssey through present-day America and a drama of enthralling force and acuity.

It begins with a boy. 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. 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 his unbearable longing for his mother, he clings to one thing that reminds him of her: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into the underworld of art.

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 novel of shocking narrative energy and power. It combines unforgettably vivid characters, mesmerizing language, and breathtaking suspense, while plumbing with a philosopher's calm the deepest mysteries of love, identity, and art. It is a beautiful, stay-up-all-night and tell-all-your-friends triumph, an old-fashioned story of loss and obsession, survival and self-invention, and the ruthless machinations of fate.

©2013 Donna Tartt (P)2013 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

Narrator David Pittu accepts the task of turning this immense volume into an excellent listening experience. Pittu portrays 13-year-old orphan Theo Decker with compassion, portraying his growing maturity in this story of grief and suspense…Pittu adds pathos to his depiction of the troubled Theo as he deals with addiction and finds himself in a dance with gangsters and the art world's darker dealers. ( AudioFile)
"Dazzling....[A] glorious, Dickensian novel, a novel that pulls together all Ms. Tartt's remarkable storytelling talents into a rapturous, symphonic whole and reminds the reader of the immersive, stay-up-all-night pleasures of reading." ( New York Times)
"A long-awaited, elegant meditation on love, memory, and the haunting power of art....Eloquent and assured, with memorable characters....A standout-and well-worth the wait." ( Kirkus, Starred Review)

Featured Article: 10 Great Contemporary Fiction Authors


If you like well-written novels that prioritize compelling timely storylines with artful prose and structure, then this is the genre for you. So, why is it called "contemporary"? Because it’s fiction set in the real world, in times contemporary to the date it was published, and the stories deal with real-world issues. Representing a diversity of backgrounds and nationalities, here are our picks for the best writers of contemporary fiction over the last 50 years.

What listeners say about The Goldfinch

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  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

a truly fun read I found though my book club.


nothing I would have picked up on my own, so it was a pleasant literary surprise that I very much enjoyed!

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Don’t miss this.

Donna Tartt, a master word crafter, lets it run full and wide. The story- you’ll wish was only the first episode of a very long series. Want to be totally engaged? you’ll find you can see the characters in detail. Donna Tartt found a reader to match these characters with precision.
Don’t miss this.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Very good... wordy

Loved the book, would have given it 5 stars, but every sentence had 2-3 metaphors or other figurative language. I love figurative language, overdone for my tastes. Excellent story , worth it!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Too long

Some good parts but a LOT of rambling philosophical soliloquies. The ending was also very unsatisfactory.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Compelling, a bittersweet read

The narrator amazing at characters. Story depressing and heavy at times , twists reader doesn't expect.

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  • JL
  • 01-31-21

Literary Perfection

This book was the journey that I needed. Her language is beautiful, her delivery is without flaw, and the storyline is unique for all—men/women. Enjoy the length of the book and enjoy how the story unfolds. Don’t rush through it because the beauty is in the details.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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I liked it okay

Overall I felt the book was unnecessarily way to long. Enjoyed some of the characters.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

listen at 1.2x

it starts out really slow but hang in there., it gets better. Increasing the speed helps too.

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love the narration and the story

excellent narration, I always knew who was speaking from the voice. the story brought me to tears so many times. I grieved and laughed and loved with theo.

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    3 out of 5 stars

A story about a picture

Initially I thought that this story was about a piece of art, a picture. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Yes, it is a story about a picture, but the picture wasn’t about the Goldfinch, it was a picture of a young man. The narrative follows the troubled life of a boy who loses his mother in a tragic accident. The accident, and the immediate actions afterwards that takes his life, and twists and turns him until he finally sees himself. Somewhat dark, often takes off in unexpected directions, and makes the reader cry, cringe, and exclaim out loud when they see where things are going. At the end, I found myself wanting to reach out to hug certain characters. Although, I must say, I am still under the author’s spell, looking back on my own life. What is my picture? The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt, is sure to stay with you.

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