After a decade of reading, research, and writing, Donna Tartt published her highly-anticipated third novel, The Goldfinch. The 2013 novel tells the story of Theo Decker, and centers around loss, death and the titular painting, The Goldfinch.
The novel, set in New York, Las Vegas, and Amsterdam, was inspired by Fabritius's painting The Goldfinch. Tartt also drew inspiration from Charles Dickens and Harry Potter in an attempt to give the novel a "child-like quality." The novel became a bestseller, drawing a widespread fanbase and an unprecedented level of engagement with Fabritius's painting.
Despite the overwhelming popularity of the book, critical reviews of the work were mixed, with The New Yorker and The New York Review of Books famously publishing unfavorable reviews. The Goldfinch would go on to win the 2014 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction and the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, and was adapted into a film in 2019.
