The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

I had this audio book in my ear for over 30 hours. Ken said he felt abandoned. But I could not stop listening and the bonus is there is a new quilt top in the works because of this book. Seems I can’t just sit and listen. I walk and listen and I sew and listen, but oh how I listened.

In this book, a young boy named Theo is caught in catastrophe, a bomb in the Metropolitan Museum of Art kills his mom and a dying stranger asks Theo to save Carel Fabritius’s 1654 painting of a goldfinch, which Theo then proceeds to lug around, hide and worry about for the next decade.

Theo lives for a while with the wealthy family of a classmate, before his deadbeat dad and girlfriend Xandra take him to Las Vegas, where he meets Boris! Boris! I would shout out loud at different times in this book – Boris!! Oh, Boris….the worst and best friend anyone could ever have.

Drugs, alcohol and lack of guidance, coupled with a soft landing of wealth and intelligence, Theo does the best he can with good intentions, but poor and desperate habits and results.

Things get too lofty towards the end of Theo’s recollections, and for me the book could have concluded about 20 minutes before it did.

But – oh I did like this book. 5 Stars.