The book's adoption aspect drew me in as an adoptive mom. The self-exploration and discoveries along the way kept my attention. This is a beautiful story, and I raced to the end to find out the main character's outcome. Well done! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

In the final days of high school in suburban Illinois, Phoebe Hudson became a new person. Set to graduate at the top of her class, knowing she was adopted but loving her mother (no matter how strange her behavior), and firmly entrenched with a best friend, Luna, but suddenly nothing is as it seems. She even cut all of her hair off. Jane Hamilton’s The Phoebe Variations explores these days from Phoebe’s point of view years later, and as a result, there is the uncertainty of memory and reason of age mixed in. In fact, there is a lot more musing than action, so readers who need a plot heavy book may be disappointed. Personally, having grown up in suburban Illinois in a similar time (1970s), and currently working daily with high school students, I found a lot of truth and much to enjoy in this book. Hamilton rambles at times, but not unlike an old friend recalling past events, and her witty sense of humor shines through.