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Jane Hamilton, author of The Phoebe Variations

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 13 siblings. But when Phoebe asks Patrick to chop off her hip-length hair, she’s suddenly transformed. Patrick’s older brothers can’t help but notice the striking, Peter Pan–like stranger who suddenly has appeared in their midst. What starts as an adolescent rebellion soon spirals into a whirlwind of self-discovery and unexpected connections.

Week of October 19, 2026

Paperback releases for the week of October 19th include THE LAND OF SWEET FOREVER,   a posthumous collection of newly discovered short stories and previously published essays that offers a fresh perspective on the remarkable literary mind of Harper Lee; THE LAND IN WINTER by Andrew Miller, which our reviewer Philip Zozzaro calls “a deep and probing character study of two pairs of spouses facing uncertain futures. It is a first-rate read that deserves all the accolades it has received.”; THE PHOEBE VARIATIONS, a stunning coming-of-age novel from Jane Hamilton about friendship, mothers and finding one's way in the world; and the paperback original MISSING MOLLY by Natalie Barelli, a dark psychological thriller about a cold case, the newspaper investigating it, and the woman for whom it all hits a little too close to home.