The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt

This captivating work of art, The Goldfinch, begins and ends with a boy, Theo Decker, trying with all of his might to hang onto the only sense of belonging that he's ever known, his mother, by way of a masterpiece: The Goldfinch. When he narrowly eludes death, that finds his mother, due to an explosion in an art museum, he talks with an old man, Welty, during his final moments on earth. This conversation forever shifts the direction of Theo's life.

Since his father abandoned him and his mother to feed his gambling addiction in Nevada, Theo is left in the care of a wealthy family of a friend. He's a fish out of water in the posh home, surrounded by kids whose greatest concern is scoring a high SAT score. Theo's dad pops back into his life and whisks him across the country to live in the foreclosed desert of abandoned mansions that is Las Vegas with him and his drug-dealing girlfriend. Theo latches onto a worldly kid, Boris, who has been shuffled from one country to the next by his mine drilling alcoholic father. Along with many languages, Boris has also picked up a penchant for stealing, drinking, and living each day as though it could all be gone the next.

Theo eventually, miraculously, makes his way back to New York and to Hobbie, the partner of Welty, who  teaches him the antique trade of purchasing and restoring old furniture. He finds himself consumed by a swirl of unrequited love and an underworld of illegal art trade and theft.

This is one of the most gripping tales I've ever taken in. Evocative characters are staged around love, loss, and deceit with the dexterity of a master philosopher and storyteller.