Which novel by Donna Tartt won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2014?

The novel by Donna Tartt that won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2014 was The Goldfinch.

Published in 2013, The Goldfinch is a coming-of-age novel about Theo Decker, a teenager whose life changes after a bombing at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. In the aftermath, Theo takes a small painting, The Goldfinch by Carel Fabritius, and the artwork remains tied to his grief, identity, guilt, and troubled adulthood.

The Pulitzer judges praised the book as a beautifully written coming-of-age story with richly drawn characters. Tartt spent roughly 11 years writing it, making the award the culmination of a long and highly anticipated literary project. The novel also became a major commercial success and was adapted into a 2019 film.

Readers sometimes confuse The Goldfinch with Tartt’s earlier novels, The Secret History and The Little Friend. Neither won the Pulitzer. The Goldfinch was Tartt’s third novel and her first Pulitzer-winning book; it was also the 2014 Fiction winner, although the prizes generally honor work published during the preceding year.