The Amateur by Chris Bohjalian is his newest novel and it is a humdinger. Mira Winston is a young adult who seems to be on the road to be the next great women’s golfer. She practices at the local golf club and is well known to the club pro and all the caddies. As a young adult, she is often unaware of how adults see her.
The book takes place in two time periods: one when Mira was a young adult and one when she was an adult looking back at the same time period. At the heart of the story, Mira accidentally kills a young caddie when she was practicing her drives. The tragedy is then reviewed and we see how much gossip and bad decisions haunt a person. The small town attitude, the have and have nots, the little resentments all add up to a fascinating plotline with an interesting mix of characters.
The novel is well written, thoughtful in its introspection and a great character study. The Amateur by Chris Bohjalian is a great read.
