Literary Night Out: Chris Bohjalian Comes to Portsmouth on Aug. 2

LITERARY IN THE LOUNGE presents #1 New York Times bestselling author

Chris Bohjalian with his new novel The Amateur

Sunday, Aug. 2 at 7 p.m.

The Music Hall Lounge


What: On Sunday, August 2 at 7pm, Chris Bohjalian visits The Music Hall Lounge with his new novel, THE AMATEUR. The Amateur recounts the story of Mira Winston, a young golf prodigy who kills a caddy with a stray ball at the country club. In the wake of this terrible accident—and everyone, at first, agrees it was an accident—Mira looks for comfort in all the wrong places: In her lover, Theo Catton, a married man three decades her senior. In her mother, a well-kept woman with secrets of her own. In the dead caddy’s little sisters, girls bewildered by grief. But when the investigators look more closely at the torn net, when a detective recalls Mira’s history of recklessness, and when the caddy’s father spies Mira with her married lover, the affluent and mannered community turns on this once-promising young woman. The Amateur asks: What happens when one small moment—a swing, a ball, a piece of string—changes the course of an entire life?


The 7pm event includes an author discussion moderated by Lara Prescott, New York Times bestselling author of The Secrets We Kept, followed by an audience Q&A. It will be held at The Music Hall Lounge at 131 Congress St., in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. 

When/Where: Sunday, August 2 — 7pm

The Music Hall Lounge

131 Congress Street

Portsmouth, NH 03801


About the Author: Chris Bohjalian is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-six books, including his upcoming novel The Amateur, as well as The Lioness, Hour of the Witch, Midwives, and The Flight Attendant, which has been made into a MAX limited series starring Kaley Cuoco. His other books include The Red Lotus, The Guest Room; Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands; The Sandcastle Girls; Skeletons at the Feast; and The Double Bind. His novels Secrets of Eden, Midwives, and Past the Bleachers were made into movies, and his work has been translated into more than thirty-five languages. He is also a playwright (Wingspan and Midwives). 

About the Moderator: Lara Prescott is the New York Times bestselling author of The Secrets We Kept, a novel that Vogue called a, “rare page-turner with prose that’s as wily as its plot.” Prescott’s work has been translated into over 30 languages and was adapted into film. She lives in coastal New Hampshire with her family.

Tickets: The ticket package for Literary in the Lounge: Chris Bohjalian with THE AMATEUR on Sunday, August 2, at 7pm is $48. Ticket Package includes a signed book (THE AMATEUR, $33, hardcover, reserved seat, author discussion, Q+A, and post-show meet-and-greet. Tickets can be purchased online at TheMusicHall.org, over the phone at 603.436.2400, or in person at the Ticketing Hub at 28 Chestnut St., Portsmouth, NH. 

About Literary in the Lounge

Akin to The Music Hall’s anchor literary series, Writers on a New England Stage, Literary in the Lounge features bestselling authors in a more intimate space. The series brings audiences today’s top authors, the best of fiction and nonfiction, and award-winners across categories, and is hosted in The Music Hall Lounge, formerly called the Loft, at 131 Congress St., in Portsmouth NH.


About The Music Hall

The Music Hall is an active and vital cultural center in downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire, dedicated to the advancement of the tri-state region’s cultural life through the performing arts, literature, and education. A community-supported 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, it presents entertainment from around the world and around the corner—the greatest musicians, writers, and performers of the time, extraordinary films, and award-winning documentaries. Its 600 yearly events delight an annual audience of 130,000 (including 20,000 children) in two theaters—an 1878 Victorian-era Historic Theater and the modern and intimate Lounge venue. The Music Hall was recently named Editors’ Choice “Best All-Around Entertainment” by Yankee Magazine and is a designated “American Treasure for the Arts.” Through innovative community partnerships, it subsidizes thousands of tickets each year to make the arts accessible to all. The Music Hall is community-oriented and committed to helping the Seacoast region flourish.