Donna Tartt’s novel The Goldfinch begins with a feverish Theo Decker holed up in an Amsterdam hotel room. He dreams of his beloved mother, Audrey, and recalls when they lived together in New York City after being abandoned by his alcoholic father. In his retelling, a thirteen-year-old Theo and his mother visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art to see a traveling exhibition of Dutch painting, including works by Rembrandt and his protégé Carel Fabritius, whose 1654 painting The Goldfinch is pointed out by his mother as one of her favorites.

In the gallery, Theo sees an elderly man accompanied by a beautiful redheaded girl, to whom he is instantly attracted. Shortly after, a terrorist bomb is detonated and destroys the inside of the museum. Theo survives and finds the elderly man, Welty Blackwell, badly injured and covered in rubble. In the man’s dying breaths, he asks Theo to return a ring to his business partner and urges Theo in the direction of The Goldfinch. Theo takes the painting from the debris and sneaks it out of the museum. Still stunned and whirling from the blast, Theo wanders home alone; late that night, two social workers come to the apartment to tell Theo that his mother died in the blast.

In order to avoid foster care, he goes to stay with the upper-class family of his classmate Andy Barbour in their apartment on Park Avenue. During this time, Theo locates Hobie—Welty’s partner—and returns the ring. Hobie and Welty share an antiques business, Hobart and Blackwell, in the Village, where Hobie does restorations in a workshop behind the store. Theo begins to spend time in Hobie’s shop, watching and learning the art of antiques restoration. Upstairs, in Hobie’s apartment, Welty’s niece Pippa is recovering from serious injuries she suffered during the museum bombing. Pippa endures a painful recovery both physically and mentally, and she is sedated by morphine lollipops. Despite her troubled state, Theo is enamored by Pippa and spends time with her as she recovers. The two quickly form a romantic connection, and Pippa kisses Theo before going away to live in Texas with her aunt.

After Theo stays with the Barbours for several months, his absent father, Larry, shows up unexpectedly, taking his estranged and damaged son back to Las Vegas to live with him and his girlfriend, Xandra.

In Las Vegas, Theo is left to his own devices while his father drinks and gambles. Theo meets Boris, the son of a Ukrainian immigrant, whose mother is also dead. The two become inseparable friends and spend most of their time drinking, smoking, and experimenting with illegal drugs. All this time, Theo has The Goldfinch hidden in his room and takes it out to admire from time to time. Eventually, Larry tries to unfreeze a savings account in Theo’s name. After failing to access the money, Larry dies in a drunk driving accident.

Immediately after his father’s death, Theo flees Las Vegas for New York City, riding a cross-country Greyhound bus with The Goldfinch concealed in his backpack. Before he leaves, he says goodbye to Boris and tries to convince him to come along to New York City. Boris refuses, and he gives Theo a kiss goodbye. 

Back in New York City, Theo ends up staying with Hobie, who agrees to be his temporary guardian. Pippa and Theo continue their friendship during her visits from a boarding school in Switzerland. Theo is accepted to an early college program and begins to help Hobie in his workshop—and notices Hobie’s lack of attention to the retail end of the business. All the...