Chris Bohjalian Livres

Throughout his career, Chris Bohjalian has earned a reputation for writing novels that examine some of the most important issues of our time. With Midwives, he explored the literal and metaphoric place of birth in our culture. In The Buffalo Soldier, he introduced us to one of contemporary literature’s most beloved foster children. And in Before You Know Kindness, he plumbed animal rights, gun control, and what it means to be a parent. Chris Bohjalian’s riveting fiction keeps us awake deep into the night. As The New York Times has said, “Few writers can manipulate a plot with Bohjalian’s grace and power.” Now he is back with an ambitious new novel that travels between Jay Gatsby’s Long Island and rural New England, between the Roaring Twenties and the twenty-first century. When college sophomore Laurel Estabrook is attacked while riding her bicycle through Vermont’s back roads, her life is forever changed. Formerly outgoing, Laurel withdraws into her photography and begins to work at a homeless shelter. There she meets Bobbie Crocker, a man with a history of mental illness and a box of photographs that he won’t let anyone see. When Bobbie dies suddenly, Laurel discovers that he was telling the truth: before he was homeless, Bobbie Crocker was a successful photographer who had indeed worked with such legends as Chuck Berry, Robert Frost, and Eartha Kitt. As Laurel’s fascination with Bobbie’s former life begins to merge into obsession, she becomes convinced that some of his photographs reveal a deeply hidden, dark family secret. Her search for the truth will lead her further from her old life—and into a cat-and-mouse game with pursuers who claim they want to save her. In this spellbinding literary thriller, rich with complex and compelling characters—including Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan—Chris Bohjalian takes readers on his most intriguing, most haunting, and most unforgettable journey yet.

On an icy winter night in an isolated house in rural Vermont, a seasoned midwife named Sibyl Danforth takes desperate measures to save a baby's life. She performs an emergency caesarean section on a mother she believes has died of a stroke. But what if Sibyl's patient wasn't dead - and Sibyl inadvertently killed her? As Sibyl faces the antagonism of the law, the hostility of traditional doctors, and the accusations of her own conscience, Midwives engages, moves, and transfixes us as only the very best novels ever do.

Set against a backdrop of epic history, this masterful love story intertwines romance with themes of courage and resilience. The narrative explores the depths of human connection amidst challenging circumstances, highlighting the characters' emotional journeys and the historical events that shape their lives. Through vivid storytelling, the book captures the essence of love's endurance in the face of adversity, making it a poignant and unforgettable tale.

From the bestselling author of The Flight Attendant—Patience Avery is a dowser, a “water witch.” Her natural gifts enable her to locate lost items, missing people, and aquifers deep within the earth. This last skill is more in demand than ever, as her home state of Vermont is in the grip of the worst drought in years. Patience knows better than most that this crisis is only the start. 25th Anniversary Edition, with a new note from the author Yet Patience’s opinion means little to her brother-in-law, Scottie Winston. Scottie’s spent the long, dry summer lobbying for permits to expand Powder Peak, a local ski area that’s his law firm’s biggest client. The resort is seeking to draw water for snowmaking from the Chittenden River, despite opposition from environmentalists who fear that the already weakened waterway will be damaged beyond repair. As the pressure mounts—from his wife and daughter on one side and a slew of powerful politicians and wealthy developers on the other—Scottie finds himself pushed closer and closer to a life-changing moral crisis. One of bestselling author Chris Bohjalian’s earliest novels, Water Witches is a prescient environmentalist and political drama that’s even more relevant today than it was a quarter of a century ago. Look for Chris Bohjalian's new novel, The Lioness!

The First World War is spreading across Europe, and Elizabeth Endicott has volunteered on behalf of the Boston-based Friends of Armenia to deliver food and medical aid to refugees of the Armenian genocide. There, Elizabeth becomes friendly with Armen, a young Armenian engineer who has already lost his wife and infant daughter. Flash forward to the present, where we meet Laura Petrosian, a novelist living in suburban New York. Laura has never really given her Armenian heritage much thought, but when an old friend calls, claiming to have seen a newspaper photo of Laura's grandmother promoting an exhibit at a Boston museum, Laura embarks on a journey back through her family's history that reveals love, loss, and a wrenching secret that has been buried for generations.

The story revolves around Terry and Laura Sheldon, a couple from Vermont grappling with the profound grief of losing their twin daughters. In their journey toward healing, they decide to foster a child, leading to the formation of an unconventional family. The novel delves into themes of loss, resilience, and the complexities of love, showcasing Bohjalian's emotional depth and masterful storytelling as the characters navigate their intertwined lives and the challenges that come with forging new bonds.

Exploring themes of gender and love, this thought-provoking narrative delves into the complexities of new relationships. The author, known for their bestselling work, crafts a story that challenges societal norms and invites readers to reflect on personal connections and identity. Through rich character development and compelling interactions, the book offers a fresh perspective on the dynamics of modern relationships.

"Boston, 1662. Mary Deerfield is twenty-four-years-old. Her skin is porcelain, her eyes delft blue, and in England she might have had many suitors. But here in the New World, amid this community of saints, Mary is the second wife of Thomas Deerfield, a man as cruel as he is powerful. When Thomas, prone to drunken rage, drives a three-tined fork into the back of Mary's hand, she resolves that she must divorce him to save her life. But in a world where every neighbor is watching for signs of the devil, a woman like Mary--a woman who harbors secret desires and finds it difficult to tolerate the brazen hypocrisy of so many men in the colony--soon becomes herself the object of suspicion and rumor. When tainted objects are discovered buried in Mary's garden, when a boy she has treated with herbs and simples dies, and when their servant girl runs screaming in fright from her home, Mary must fight to not only escape her marriage, but also the gallows"--From publisher's description

Set against the backdrop of war-torn Tuscany, this novel weaves a compelling tale of love, despair, and revenge. The narrative unfolds through rich characters and emotional depth, exploring the complexities of human relationships in a time of conflict. The author's acclaimed storytelling brings to life the struggles and resilience of individuals facing the harsh realities of war, making for an unforgettable reading experience.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the New York Times bestselling author of The Flight Attendant comes the spellbinding tale of a party gone horribly wrong: two men lie dead in a suburban living room, two women are on the run from police, and a marriage is ripping apart at the seams. When Kristin Chapman agrees to let her husband, Richard, host his brother's bachelor party, she expects a certain amount of debauchery. She takes their young daughter to Manhattan for the evening, leaving her Westchester home to the men and their hired entertainment. What she does not expect is that the entertainment—two scared young women brought there by force—will kill their captors and drive off into the night. With their house now a crime scene, Kristin's and Richard’s life spirals into nightmare. Kristin is unable to forgive her husband for his lapses in judgement, or for the moment he shared with a dark-haired girl in the guest room. But for the dark-haired girl, Alexandra, the danger is just beginning. Look for Chris Bohjalian's new novel, The Lioness!