The Goldfinch wins 2014 Pulitzer Prize

I'm rather pleased to hear that Donna Tartt has won the Pulitzer Prize for her magnificent novel, The Goldfinch. For readers of her earlier work this was a long time in the coming, but boy was it worth it. This was one of those books that I was incredibly keen to get hold of and read, and I must admit that it caused many envious looks when I was sent an advanced reading copies. Moments like that definitely count as one of the perks of the job. The ARC for the novel was almost as beautiful as the final product and I devoured it at speed despite the hefty nature of the novel. Every moment spent reading it was special, it's a very very special book. One of those books that you can imagine will be considered 'important' in the years to come. Altogether it is a worthy winner.... back when I read and reviewed it I didn't have this blog up and running, all my reviews were going up only on Goodreads and Waterstones, they were short and sweet nonetheless here is what I wrote about it at the time.....

I have waited a while to come back and write my review of 'The Goldfinch', and still I am not quite sure what I want to say about it. At 784 pages, it really is quite a brick and yet once you start reading you find that the pages fly by, and you are just wanting more of the flowing beautiful prose. Theo Decker is a total individual and the story of his travels through modern America is both powerful and emotionally charged. Obsession and loss are the overriding themes of the story, although the value of true friendship is also explored in depth. At times this is an emotional read, and the descent into the criminal underworld comes almost as light relief; all I can say don't be put off by the length of this, just read this beautiful book.