# The Amateur

Canonical: https://www.bookquiver.com/chris-bohjalian/the-amateur/9781804965344

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![The Amateur](https://quivercdn.com/covers/penguin/chris-bohjalian/the-amateur_978-18-0496-534-4-226de0c0.jpg?v=2026-09-23%2003%3A15%3A39)

- Book: [The Amateur](https://www.bookquiver.com/chris-bohjalian/the-amateur) ([The Amateur.md](https://www.bookquiver.com/chris-bohjalian/the-amateur.md))
- Authors: [Chris Bohjalian](https://www.bookquiver.com/chris-bohjalian)
- Publisher: Penguin
- Medium: audio
- Length: 9 h 58 min
- ISBN: 978-18-0496-534-4
- Published: 2026-08-20
- Language: en_GB
- Binding: Audiobook · 9 h 58 min

## Description

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. '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 'Impossible to put down' GILLIAN McALLISTER, author of WRONG PLACE WRONG TIME © Chris Bohjalian 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026