The Amateur: A Novel by Chris Bohjalian — a spellbinding story of a tragic accident, buried secrets, and a young woman whose life is forever altered in a single swing.
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Midwives and The Flight Attendant.
August 1978. On the manicured grounds of a Westchester country club, eighteen-year-old golf prodigy Mira Winston drives a ball toward the practice net. The ball tears through the mesh at 150 miles per hour and strikes a high-school caddy, Kenny Foster, killing him instantly.
At first everyone agrees it was a terrible accident. But as investigators examine the torn net, as questions arise about Mira’s past recklessness, and as her secret relationship with a married man three decades her senior comes to light, the affluent community turns against the once-promising young woman.
What begins as a freak mishap on a sun-soaked green becomes something far darker — a story of guilt, predation, class, and the way one small moment can redirect an entire life. Moving from the exclusive club to a county courtroom, The Amateur is both a gripping psychological drama and a piercing portrait of a teenager navigating power, desire, and consequence.
With his trademark emotional precision and narrative drive, Chris Bohjalian delivers one of his most powerful and unforgettable novels yet.
