Jane Hamilton – författare

Laura and Charlie Rider have been married for twelve years. They share their nursery business in rural Wisconsin, their love for their animals and their zeal for storytelling. Although Charlie's enthusiasm in the bedroom has worn Laura out, although she no longer sleeps with him, they are happy enough going along in their routine.Jenna Faroli is the host of a popular radio show and in Laura's mind is 'the single most famous person in the Town of Dover'. When Jenna happens to cross Charlie's path one day, and they begin an e-mail correspondence, Laura cannot resist using Charlie to try out her new writing skills. Together, Laura and Charlie craft florid, strangely intimate messages that entice Jenna in an unexpected way. The 'project' quickly spins out of control. The lines between Laura's words and Charlie's feelings are blurred and complicated, Jenna is transformed in ways that deeply disturb her, and Laura is transformed in her mind's eye into an artist. The transformations are hilarious and poignant, and for Laura Rider, beyond her wildest expectations.

Women on the block called Mac's sister Madeline a beauty, a 'real Princess Grace'. But in spite of her height and mature body, to Mac, his sister never looked any different to other children. Until one summer evening in 1960, when his cousin Buddy taunted him with the odd truth of their family: Madeline was not really Mac's sister, but his father's first wife. A terrible accident had left her brain-damaged, with the intellect of a seven-year-old. When his father remarried, Madeline became part of his new family, devotedly cared for by his second wife like one of their own children.In 2003, Mac, now a middle-aged doctor, attends the funeral of Buddy's son, killed in Iraq. There, the divisions that drove two branches of their family apart are brought sharply into focus: on one side, belligerently liberal doves, on the other, defiantly patriotic hawks. Also revealed is the impact of Madeline's tragedy on the family, how it has shaped and altered forever the boundaries of love. In this moving story that follows one American family over several decades of wars fought on foreign soil, Jane Hamilton, with her usual humour and keen observation of family relationships, deftly explores notions of innocence and experience, loyalty and betrayal, sacrifice and devotion.

For 35 years Gina McGavin hunted for her mother's killer.Mary McLaughlin's senseless brutal murder ignited in Gina a deep sense of injustice and an insatiable need to seek the truth about her death.The two women had only just begun to work on their broken relationship with Gina finding ways to forgive her mother for abandoning the family home when Gina was just two years old. Now she felt abandoned again and it awakened in her an obsessive quest that would overshadow her whole life.Gina unravels family secrets and revelations about her mother as she began to suspect that some close to her knew more about Mary's murder than they were letting on.She puts family members on the spot and rakes over every detail she can find to not only lead her to a killer but to understand who her mother was and why she abandoned her family.Gina delves into potential suspects, discovers shocking details about her family and explores how her mother's death has impacted her own life, her marriage, her relationships and when the case is finally solved by police, it leaves Gina with unanswered questions. She doesn't believe the man convicted acted alone.Mary's murder gripped the town of Partick for years after her death. This is the extraordinary journey of a daughter's search for truth and justice for the mother she never really knew.

Hunting Shadows is a gripping true crime memoir by Jane Hamilton, one of Scotland's most experienced and well-known crime journalists. The book chronicles her decades-long career reporting on some of the country's most harrowing and high-profile criminal cases - with a central focus on the chilling investigation into serial killer Peter Tobin.Following Tobin's arrest, she was one of the first journalists to question whether his crimes were more extensive than publicly known. Her reporting uncovered early warning signs and disturbing patterns that would later help prompt Operation Anagram - the nationwide police operation that sought to uncover the full extent of Tobin's crimes.She gained unprecedented access to Tobin's personal world through exclusive interviews with his estranged wife and son - interviews no other journalist secured. Their revelations offered a rare insight into Tobin's double life and helped reveal how a serial killer hid in plain sight.Hunting Shadows takes readers behind the scenes of major investigations, crime scenes, courtrooms, and newsrooms. It offers a rare inside look at the world of crime journalism, the pressures of reporting under scrutiny, and the responsibility of telling the stories of victims and survivors with truth and integrity.

National BestsellerAn Oprah Daily Best BookAn Indie Next PickA LibraryReads Pick"A probing story about the reverberations of adoption, toxic friendship and what it means to be a mother."—Milwaukee Journal SentinelA stunning coming-of-age novel about friendship, mothers, and finding one's way in the world by the New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Ruth and A Map of the World.Seventeen-year-old Phoebe was never interested in her birth family. But on the cusp of her high school graduation, her adoptive mother, Greta, insists on a visit to meet her biological parents and siblings. The encounter is a jolt, a revelation that derails Phoebe.With the help of her best friend Luna, Phoebe runs away—as far as their friend Patrick O’Connor’s chaotic home, where she hopes to go unnoticed among his thirteen siblings. What begins as an adolescent rebellion soon spirals into a whirlwind of transformation and self-discovery.As Phoebe grapples with her shifting identity, she must navigate the tumultuous road out of girlhood and chart a new and unknown course.