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<\/p>\nIt took nearly a decade for acclaimed and best-selling author Jane Hamilton to ferret out her latest novel\u2019s protagonist, Phoebe.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Phoebe Variations,\u201d Hamilton\u2019s first book in nine years, was released Sept. 23, and she\u2019ll be at Watermark Books on Monday, Sept. 29, to talk about her book with KMUW podcaster Beth Golay. Hamilton, who has visited Wichita on previous book tours, said she requested the return visit.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wrote many different iterations of this book with different plot trajectories, and it kept not working,\u201d said Hamilton, the author of seven previous critically acclaimed novels, including \u201cThe Book of Ruth\u201d and \u201cA Map of the World,\u201d which were Oprah Book Club selections and made into movies. She won the prestigious PEN\/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel for \u201cThe Book of Ruth.\u201d<\/p>\n
But her challenges weren\u2019t just literary. There were life events like aging parents, an ill sister, the pandemic lockdown and the purchase and redevelopment of a former bank building in her adopted home of Rochester, Wis. Hamilton and her husband, who also own an apple orchard, closed on the purchase of the building, which now houses a coffee shop, right before the pandemic shutdown.<\/p>\n
What finally worked was a coming-of-age story that revolves around an intense friendship, mothers, self-discovery and unexpected connections. It\u2019s told from the perspective of an older Phoebe looking at the major event that derails her life in 1974: when her adoptive mom, Greta, insists Phoebe meet her biological parents and siblings. Phoebe refers to the event as when Greta \u201cdetonated her little bomb\u201d right before her high school graduation.<\/p>\n
Phoebe turns to her childhood friend Luna for help in running away after the traumatic introduction. She ends up in the rather chaotic home of their mutual friend Patrick O\u2019Connor and his 13 siblings. What follows is Phoebe\u2019s journey as she \u201cgrapples with her shifting identity,\u201d as described on the book\u2019s jacket.<\/p>\n
The novel is also an exploration of Phoebe\u2019s intense relationship with Luna. They met as 12-year-olds who had a love of \u201cJane Eyre,\u201d and eventually drifted apart, but the impact of that friendship continued through the decades. Luna, who becomes a self-help guru and influencer, even uses Phoebe\u2019s life as fodder for one of her books.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe Phoebe Variations\u201d is Jane Hamilton\u2019s first book in nine years.<\/p>\n
Like Phoebe, Hamilton grew up in the 1970s in a place where big families like the O\u2019Connors were the norm. She\u2019s said she\u2019s intrigued by mothers of that time.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot only because of how in the world do you wake up in the morning and face 12 children, but also it was a time of tension because the feminist revolution was happening, the birth control pill had been invented and a lot of the Catholic mommies probably had to wrestle with that,\u201d said Hamilton, who grew up in Oak Park, Ill.<\/p>\n
While crafting Phoebe\u2019s character was challenging, it was a process she loved, Hamilton said. In between her stops and starts in writing \u201cThe Phoebe Variations,\u201d Hamilton also started work on another novel, \u201cwhich hasn\u2019t been my style.\u201d<\/p>\n
Part of her dogged pursuit of Phoebe\u2019s story was inspired by an all-male performance of Shakespeare\u2019s \u201cTwelfth Night\u201d that British actor and director Mark Rylance brought to a Broadway theater.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was such a joyful experience being in that theater, and I went home and wanted to create something even half as joyful as I felt watching that production,\u201d Hamilton said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWriting can be very difficult and challenging, and you really just have to get yourself in the chair and stay there,\u201d Hamilton said. \u201cBut I really love writing. I love to write. I love being taken out of my real life and having this kind of communion with myself and building this thing that takes over. So why did I keep doing it? Because I really like to and because I really, truly don\u2019t know what else to do with myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Phoebe Variations,\u201d published by Zibby Publishing and retailing for $27.99, is on the Oprah Daily list of the 25 best books of fall 2025.<\/p>\n
\u2018The Phoebe Variations\u2019 author event with Jane Hamilton<\/p>\n
When:<\/b> 6-7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 29<\/p>\n
Where:<\/b> Watermark Books, 4701 E. Douglas Ave.<\/p>\n
Admission:<\/b> Free, RSVP online<\/p>\n