Most Popular Books by Jane Hamilton

Jane Hamilton, award-winning author of The Book of Ruth and A Map of the World brings us a rich and loving novel about a non-traditional family in the aftermath of a terrible accident.When Aaron Maciver’s beautiful young wife, Madeline, suffers a head injury in a bicycle crash, she is left with the mental capabilities of a six-year-old. In the years that follow, Aaron and his second wife care for Madeline with deep tenderness and devotion as they raise two children of their own. Inspired in part by Elizabeth Spencer’s Light in the Piazza, Hamilton offers an honest and exquisite portrait of how a family tragedy forever shapes the boundaries of love.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the author of the widely acclaimed The Book of Ruth comes a harrowing, heartbreaking drama about a rural American family and a disastrous event that forever changes their lives. "It takes a writer of rare power and discipline to carry off an achievement like A Map of the World. Hamilton proves here that she is one of the best." —Newsweek The Goodwins, Howard, Alice, and their little girls, Emma and Claire, live on a dairy farm in Wisconsin. Although suspiciously regarded by their neighbors as "that hippie couple" because of their well-educated, urban background, Howard and Alice believe they have found a source of emotional strength in the farm, he tending the barn while Alice works as a nurse in the local elementary school. But their peaceful life is shattered one day when a neighbor''s two-year-old daughter drowns in the Goodwins'' pond while under Alice''s care. Tormented by the accident, Alice descends even further into darkness when she is accused of sexually abusing a student at the elementary school. Soon, Alice is arrested, incarcerated, and as good as convicted in the eyes of a suspicious community. As a child, Alice designed her own map of the world to find her bearings. Now, as an adult, she must find her way again, through a maze of lies, doubt and ill will. A vivid human drama of guilt and betrayal, A Map of the World chronicles the intricate geographies of the human heart and all its mysterious, uncharted terrain. The result is a piercing drama about family bonds and a disappearing rural American life.

Winner of the 1989 PEN/Hemingway Foundation Award for best first novel, this exquisite book confronts real-life issues of alienation and violence from which the author creates a stunning testament to the human capacity for mercy, compassion and love.

PEN/Hemingway Award Winner: An “enthralling” novel of a woman trapped within a tragically dysfunctional family (Entertainment Weekly). From the New York Times–bestselling author of The Excellent Lombards and A Map of the World, this is “an extraordinary story of a family’s disintegration [that] will be compared to Jane Smiley’s A Thousand Acres” (People). It follows Ruth Grey, a young woman in a tiny Illinois farm town, who has lost her father to World War II, and constantly faces her unhappy mother’s wrath—when she isn’t being ignored in favor of her math-prodigy brother. As Ruth navigates her lonely life, she strives to find happiness and pleasure where she can, but the world may conspire to defeat her. “A sly and wistful, if harrowing, human comedy . . . [An] original voice in fiction and one well worth listening to.” —The Boston Sunday Globe “Unforgettably, beat by beat, Hamilton maps the best and worst of the human heart and all the mysterious, uncharted country in between.” —Kirkus Reviews “Hamilton’s story builds to a shocking crescendo. Her small-town characters are as appealingly offbeat and brushed with grace as any found in Alice Hoffman’s or Anne Tyler’s novels.” —Glamour

Walter McCloud is a boy with dreams unlike most. Introduced as a child to the genius of Balanchine and the lyricism of Tchaikovsky, Walter has always aspired to be a dancer. As he grows older, it becomes clear that despite his desire, he lacks the talent, and he faces the painful knowledge that his more gifted friends have already surpassed him. Soon, however, that pain is overshadowed when his older brother, Daniel, finds a strange lump on his neck and Walter realizes that a happy family can change overnight. The year that follows transforms the McClouds, as they try to hold together in the face of the fearful consequences of Daniel''s illness, and Walter makes discoveries about himself and his friendships that will change him forever. Decades later, after Walter has left home and returned, he must come to terms with the memories of that year, and grapple once and for all with the challenge of carving out a place for himself in this all-too-familiar world. A moving story of the torments of sexuality and the redemptive power of family and friendship, The Short History of a Prince confirms Jane Hamilton''s place as a preeminent novelist of our time.

It is rare for a foreign woman to be accepted for instruction in intensive meditation in a Buddhist temple in Thailand. Jane Hamilton-Merritt writes about this experience from the inside, describing the extraordinary journey into the self, the expansion of her consciousness. In a personal account of her struggles, her fears and her experiences - some euphoric, some terrifying, some beautiful in the form of psychedelic visions and some that were genuinely threatening. A Meditator''s Diary is an intellectually disciplined attempt to understand what Buddhist meditation techniques have to offer us, those in the Western world caught up in a cycle of destruction that we cannot control, and shows how to access its secrets. Jane Hamilton-Merritt describes her own dawning understanding of ''compassion without attachment'', her eventual arrival at a state of peace and reconciliation and the sense of living flow with the whole of the universe that has transformed her life. Encouraging her readers to try meditation she describes how we can take the first steps on the long road to tranquillity for ourselves.

Tragic Mountains tells the story of the Hmong''s struggle for freedom and survival in Laos from 1942 through 1992. During those years, most Hmong sided with the French against the Japanese and Ho Chi Minh''s Viet Minh, and then with the Americans against the North Viemamese.

A new classic from the author of Oprah''s Book Club picks A Map of the World and The Book of Ruth. "This is the book Jane Hamilton was born to write... [it is] magnificent." —Ann Patchett, New York Times bestselling author of Commonwealth Mary Frances "Frankie" Lombard is fiercely in love with her family''s sprawling apple orchard and the tangled web of family members who inhabit it. Content to spend her days planning capers with her brother William, competing with her brainy cousin Amanda, and expertly tending the orchard with her father, Frankie desires nothing more than for the rhythm of life to continue undisturbed. But she cannot help being haunted by the historical fact that some family members end up staying on the farm and others must leave. Change is inevitable, and threats of urbanization, disinheritance, and college applications shake the foundation of Frankie''s roots. As Frankie is forced to shed her childhood fantasies and face the possibility of losing the idyllic future she had envisioned for her family, she must decide whether loving something means clinging tightly or letting go. "Everything you could ask for in a coming-of-age novel-- funny, insightful, observant, saturated with hope and melancholy." —Tom Perotta, author ofLittle Childrenand The Leftovers "Tender, eccentric, wickedly funny and sage...gives full voice to Jane Hamilton''s storytelling gifts." - Nancy Horan, author of Loving Frank and Under the Wide and Starry Sky

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.

How could she have known, sitting behind that red-headed boy in a fifth-grade Oregon classroom, she’d follow him into the heart of Africa? It was a wild journey of faith, thrusting her into the Pokot people’s lives in a remote corner of Kenya. In Into Africa, author Jane Hamilton tells their story offering a look at the everyday life of a bush missionary. For Dick and Jane Hamilton, entering the “culturally protected” area of Kara Pokot, Kenya, in 1974, is like falling through time. The warrior people, living a centuries-old lifestyle of cattle herding and tribal warfare, struggle for survival. The wells drilled by the British during colonial times are long broken. The strange white man begins to repair broken wells, opening the way into the Pokot community and a forty-year ministry with this tribe. Years of tribal conflict, famines, and bush living pale to the challenge of a government suspicious of Americans living among the only tribe in Kenya that have refused to disarm. A shipment of well drilling equipment arrives at Mombasa Port; harmless pellet guns are mistaken for illegal arms. Missionaries are arrested for gun running, and an American well driller dies in police custody, bringing a million-dollar water project to the edge of failure. The ultimate survival of the Rift Valley Water Project brings water to thousands, enabling the establishment of schools, clinics, and churches. Into Africa chronicles that journey with spiritual truths woven into the stories of life in the African bush.

The story of the decades-long struggle to build a civic center in Madison, Wisconsin.

In this gritty anthology, fourteen mystery stories show the seedier side of the Wisconsin city beyond beer, butter burgers, and Laverne & Shirley. Akashic Books continues its award-winning series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each book comprises all-new stories, each one set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the respect city. Now, fourteen authors who’ve experienced life in the Cream City share its mysteries in Milwaukee Noir. With stories from: Jane Hamilton, Reed Farrel Coleman, Valerie Laken, Matthew J. Prigge, Shauna Singh Baldwin, Vida Cross, Larry Watson, Frank Wheeler Jr., Derrick Harriell, Christi Clancy, James E. Causey, Mary Thorson, Nick Petrie, and Jennifer Morales. Praise for Milwaukee Noir “Luxuriate in the seedy, wallow in the angry and shiver at the horrors that surely await you around the corner . . . The sheer localness of Milwaukee Noir is superb, and the seediness of many characters here would qualify them for membership in a Tom Waits song.” —Milwaukee Journal Sentinel “A very strong collection of short fiction. . . . A richly textured collection that is, by turns, gripping, thought provoking, and simply entertaining.” —Booklist “The violent, dark stories in this anthology fit the bill perfectly with the intention, as editor Hennessy writes, to be social commentary . . . . Tales by Jane Hamilton and Christi Clancy stand out, evidence that ordinary people can get swept up in hatred, even if they did not start out living with violence, drunkenness, or poverty.” —Library Journal “Milwaukee bookseller and writer Hennessy does justice to the harsher aspects of his hometown in this fine anthology . . . The 14 contributors show that violence is not a prerequisite to crafting a haunting depiction of despair . . . The selections make the different neighborhoods, seedy or otherwise, come to life, even for those who have never set foot in them.” —Publishers Weekly “Fourteen free-wheeling stories document the grit and glory of Milwaukee . . . A nod to Milwaukee’s blue-collar heritage, a frank look at racial disharmony, and a peek at the future make Hennessy’s collection a find for fans of urban noir.” —Kirkus Reviews

Relates the journye of one women through abuse, bondage of bulimia and finding freedom and relief through her belief in Christ. Book includes many references and descriptions of her Christian journey.

After waiting all year to make a special wish for himself at the Loy Kathong festival, a ten-year-old Thai boy finds himself wishing instead for the welfare of a trapped white elephant.