The Phoebe Variations

Bestseller Hamilton (The Excellent Lombards) serves up a charming story of a rebellious teen’s life-changing summer before college in 1974. Phoebe Hudson’s well-meaning adoptive mother, Greta, insists she meet her birth parents, the Dahlgreens, so she can see they’re “regular, real people” and let go of any “fantasy” she has about them. Horrified to learn the Dahlgreens have a big family she was excluded from, Phoebe feels betrayed by Greta, whom Hamilton portrays as partly driven by self-interest. Phoebe then runs away, with help from her best friend, Luna, and crashes in their friend Patrick O’Connor’s basement. After Patrick gives Phoebe a pixie cut, his 21-year-old brother, Miles, suddenly notices her stunning looks. The pair fall in love and she gets accidentally pregnant, forcing her to make a difficult series of decisions, all while facing the limit of Luna’s loyalty. Hamilton displays a natural touch in her characterizations, especially Greta’s struggle to find the right way to be open with Phoebe about Phoebe’s birth family and Luna’s competitiveness with boys, which add dimension to the entertaining tale. The author has another winner on her hands. Agent: Emily Forland, Brandt & Hochman Literary. (Sept.)