Chris Bohjalian’s 2026 novel, The Amateur, is a psychological drama framed as a memoir from the author of bestsellers like The Hour of the Witch (2021) and Midwives (1997). Set in 1978, the story follows Mira Winston, a talented teenage golfer whose life changes forever when she accidentally kills a caddy with a stray shot at her wealthy suburban country club. The tragedy sends her into a spiral of guilt and self-destruction, complicated by her secret affair with a much older, married man. As Mira becomes the target of a criminal investigation, she deals with the social ramifications in a small community. The novel was selected for Oprah’s Book Club and was a highly anticipated release by the New York Times Book Review. It explores themes including The Intersection of Gender, Class, and Power; The Dangerous Gap Between Perception and Reality; and The Failures of the Justice System.

Narrated retrospectively, The Amateur is a post-#MeToo examination of a past era, scrutinizing the power dynamics of grooming, consent, and statutory rape through a contemporary lens. The novel is explicitly in conversation with Vladimir Nabokov’s classic, Lolita, giving narrative control to the young woman at the center of a predatory relationship. It is grounded in its late-1970s setting, referencing cultural touchstones like the film Animal House, the divide between disco and punk music, and the social aftershocks of the Vietnam War. This historical backdrop frames the personal and legal drama, showing the era’s social norms and cultural divides.

This guide refers to the 2026 hardcover edition.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide contain depictions of death, child death, sexual violence, rape, child sexual abuse, emotional abuse, mental illness, suicidal ideation, self-harm, death by suicide, substance use, addiction, gender discrimination, addiction, sexual content, and cursing.

Plot Summary

Mira Winston, a famous writer, explains that she is writing a memoir that begins in the summer of 1978, when she was 18 years old, a talented high school golfer in the wealthy suburb of Tallmadge, New York, and her life irrevocably changed. While practicing at her country club’s driving range, she hits a golf ball that rips through a tear in the protective netting and strikes 17-year-old caddy Kenneth “Kenny” Foster in the head, killing him instantly. The tragedy shatters 18-year-old Mira, who is also secretly involved with Theo Catton, a married, 47-year-old club member. 

In the immediate aftermath, Mira quits golf and forgoes her acceptance to Yale. Her parents, Peter and Alexis, focus on the legal ramifications, insisting the club or the net’s manufacturer is liable. Overcome with guilt over Kenny’s death (despite not having removed the target), Mira defies her parents’ warnings and visits the grieving Foster family to apologize. During the visit, Kenny’s father, Nick Foster, recognizes Mira from a recent encounter at a New York City hotel, where he saw her checking in with Theo Catton.

Nick informs Mira’s parents about what he witnessed. When they confront her, Mira lies to protect Theo, claiming it was a one-time encounter after her 18th birthday, while in truth, they had been having sex since she was 15 years old. Enraged, her father confronts Theo at his home, resulting in a public brawl that exposes the affair to the community, and his wife Eleanor divorces him. Tallmadge collectively blames Mira for the divorce and for Kenny’s death, and she blames herself for both as well, deciding that Kenny’s death was her fault because killing him was her punishment for having sex with Theo.

Feeling guilty, ashamed, and lost, she takes a “gap year” in Manhattan, living with her aunt and uncle and working at a travel magazine. She begins misusing drugs and alcohol and begins a relationship with Dennis Kerrington, an older NYU professor and writer. 

Meanwhile, Kenny’s family files a multimillion-dollar civil lawsuit against the country club, the net manufacturer, and Mira. During her deposition, Mira mentions a detail no one had considered: A leather target had been attached to the practice net, which she had complained about to the club pro, Harry Fallows, and which had been removed just days before Kenny’s death. This revelation shifts the investigation’s focus toward Mira.

The police, now suspecting Mira removed the target and damaged the net herself, execute a search warrant on her family’s home. In a pocket of her golf bag—which had been left in the club’s storage room for weeks after Kenny was killed—they find the missing target, wadded up. Based on this evidence, the district attorney, Eric Lindley, who is friends with Theo’s ex-wife, charges Mira with involuntary manslaughter. 

Meanwhile, Mira is accepted to Smith College. She goes and, for a while, feels like she has made a new start. Her roommate introduces her to her brother’s friend Ethan Pomerleau, a 29-year-old freshman and Vietnam veteran who goes to nearby Amherst. When Mira comes home from her first date with Ethan, a large group of girls in her dorm attacks her, having learned about Kenny and Theo Catton. Ethan defends her, but after he leaves, Mira goes upstairs to her room and decides to die by suicide in the bath. She is saved by Ethan, who returns out of worry for her and breaks down the bathroom door. She withdraws from school and returns home to await her criminal trial, which begins in March of 1980.

During the trial, the prosecution portrays Mira as a reckless and entitled young woman with a history of impulsive acts. Harry Fallows testifies that Mira vehemently demanded he remove the target. His assistant, Curt Bolger, delivers a destructive blow, testifying that on the day the target was likely removed, Mira bragged that she “tore that net a new hole!” (299). 

The defense, led by lawyer Cleon Barker, counters that Harry Fallows, annoyed by Mira’s complaints and fearing liability, removed the target himself and framed her by planting it in her bag. The trial reaches a climax during Bolger’s testimony, when he casually mentions having seen Kenny Foster in the bag room near Mira’s golf bag in the days leading up to his death. Upon hearing this, Kenny’s younger sister, Olivia Foster, who is in the courtroom, breaks down and screams that Mira is innocent because Kenny removed the target himself.

The trial is halted as Olivia gives her statement. She reveals that Kenny had a crush on Mira. Hearing her constant complaints about the target, he decided to remove it as a chivalrous gesture. He cut it off the net and placed it in her golf bag, intending to leave a note with it, but he accidentally left the note at home and was killed before he could. Olivia, who knew about her brother’s plan and found the note after his death, had kept the secret to protect his memory and spare her grieving parents the knowledge. 

With Olivia’s confession and the recovered note, the criminal charges against Mira are dismissed. The civil suit is eventually settled out of court, with the club and the net manufacturer assuming liability. Mira is finally exonerated, though she is forever changed by the ordeal. Years later, a successful novelist, she is married to Ethan and has a family. She reflects on the lives impacted by the tragedy, having learned that Kenny’s sister Jane is now a golf pro herself. The memoir concludes with the text of Kenny’s earnest, unread note, whose well-intentioned act had such catastrophic consequences.