The Amateur

 

The Amateur by Chris Bohjalian
8/4/26; 336 pages
Knopf Doubleday

The Amateur by Chris Bohjalian is a highly recommended literary domestic drama and coming-of-age story following an accidental death.

In August of 1978 at the Tallmadge Country Club in Westchester County, N.Y., a small tear in the practice netting allowed a golf ball going 140-150 mph to rip through the netting and slam into the right side of the head of 17-year-old caddy Kenneth Foster causing an epidural hematoma and death. Mira Winston, an 18-year-old LPGA hopeful, was the one responsible for driving the ball that accidentally hit Kenny into the practice netting. While everyone initially agrees it was an accident, Mira is shaken to the core by the death and decides she will not be going on to attend Yale in a few weeks. In fact, Mira also never plays golf again. She is also having an affair that started when she was 15-years-old with a 47-year-old married man Theo Catton during this time

The novel is written in the form of a candid memoir by Mira as an adult looking back at that time of her life. She talks about her affairs with older men, and her mother's affair. She discusses what happens when Kenny's father discovered her affair with Theo and then told her parents. She claimed it started when she was already 18, but looking back now it is clear she was a victim. Mira honestly shares about her drug use, trying to escape reality. The news of the affair gets out and everyone seems to turn against Mira. Mira is eventually part of the civil case over Kenny's death.

Mira is an aggressively complicated and disagreeable character. It is extremely difficult to like her. She was being taken advantage of and abused by a predatory man whether she realizes it or not. In the novel she is currently an adult and author of over 25 books who is now looking back at events that happened many years ago. The narrative covers self-destructive behavior, a trial, abuse, post-traumatic stress, familial dysfunction, self-medication, and self-doubt. 

While the quality of the writing is exceptional, I'll admit while I was reading the novel was rated lower. The plot is a more even-paced character study, and Mira is an unlikable character throughout the novel. The focus on her affair didn't exactly ring true to what a teen girl would be thinking and feeling, so, in my opinion, you can easily tell a man wrote this story during certain scenes/descriptions.  What raised my rating was the final denouement and the epilogue in this morally complex narrative. 

The Amateur is a good choice for readers interested in a literary coming-of-age tale following a complicated, unlikable main character. Thanks to Knopf Doubleday for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.