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1978. In the sleepy New York suburb of Tallmadge, eighteen-year-old Mira Winston is beguiling, talented, and full of youthful recklessness. She spends her summer perfecting her swing at her parents’ country club – and continuing her long-running affair with her father’s golf buddy, a married man twice her age.

Then, one August afternoon, a freak accident occurs, and Mira’s classmate Kenny is killed. In the days and years that follow, the events of that day become inextricably tied to the choices she has made – with devastating, unpredictable consequences for her family, her neighbours and friends, and Mira herself.
She is forced to ask: what happens when one small moment – the swing of a golf club, a stolen kiss, a hastily written note – changes the course of an entire life?
Mesmerizing and darkly funny, The Amateur unravels against a backdrop of white-picket-fenced streets, university dorm rooms, smoke-filled restaurants, and elegant country clubs. Turning a sharp eye to the American middle class, it is a hypnotic tale of power, morality, and the weight of blame.

'THE AMATEUR is a joyous novel with an unforgettable narrator who will break your heart. It is sharply funny, beautifully told and so moving on the way life can upend itself in a single moment. I adored it’ CLARE LESLIE HALL, author of BROKEN COUNTRY

© Chris Bohjalian 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026