“As much as I love writing (the verb), I probably love writing (the noun) even more. I doubt anyone becomes a serious novelist who doesn’t love reading: savoring paragraphs that precisely capture longing or dread or desire. Being riveted by a plot twist that is utterly surprising but, you realize, perfect, because it was inevitable.”

—Chris Bohjalian

Bestselling novelist Chris Bohjalian uses his hugely popular novels to explore compelling social and historical issues like human trafficking, domestic violence, and the Armenian genocide, as well as the more intimate challenges of marriage, parenting, and sexuality. In more than two dozen books, most of which have been New York Times bestsellers, Bohjalian has cultivated a wide and devoted audience. His breakout novel, Midwives, was a #1 New York Times bestseller and an Oprah’s Book Club selection. Instant New York Times bestseller The Flight Attendant was praised by USA Today as an “expertly turned thriller,” and the Max television adaptation was nominated for twelve Emmys. His forthcoming book, The Amateur, was chosen by The New York Times Book Review as one of “The Novels Everyone Will Be Talking About in 2026.”

Hailed as “a masterpiece” that “dazzles as it devastates” (Publisher’s Weekly, starred review), The Amateur is the story of a teenage golf prodigy who kills a caddy with a stray ball at a tony country club. At first, it seems like a terrible accident, but the ensuing investigation reveals dark secrets that turn the affluent community against the young woman. This gripping novel raises the question: What happens when one small moment changes the course of a life?

Recent titles include The Jackal’s Mistress, a deeply researched Civil War love story inspired by a real-life friendship across enemy lines, The Princess of Las Vegas, a thriller about a Princess Diana impersonator and her estranged sister who find themselves drawn into a dangerous game of money and murder on the Las Vegas strip, and Hour of the Witch, “historical fiction at its best” (The Washington Post) about a young Puritan woman who faces allegations of witchcraft as she attempts to divorce her abusive husband.

“Bohjalian’s masterful plotting evokes a magician who distracts his audience to look this way, not that way…. Fans of Bohjalian know to expect the unexpected and, thanks to his creativity and cunning, readers usually get walloped by one heck of a plot twist by book’s end.”

—USA Today

Among Bohjalian’s many other standout titles are the New York Times bestsellers The Lioness, The Guest Room, Skeletons at the Feast, and The Sandcastle Girls, in which Bohjalian tackles the weighty topic of the Armenian genocide in an “intricately nuanced romance” that Julie Kane of Library Journal called “simply astounding.”

“[Bohjalian] never writes the same book twice. From the rural Vermont–set Midwives to the historical The Sandcastle Girls to the close-at-hand dystopia of Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands, he charts crucial moments in different settings and with different sensibilities.”

—Library Journal

Bohjalian is also a playwright and screenwriter. His first play, Wingspan, premiered at the 59 East 59th Theatres in New York City directed by Academy Award winner Alexander Dinelaris, and was released as an eBook by Vintage. His adaptation of Midwives had its world premiere at the George Street Playhouse in early 2020, an “engrossing… unforgettable” production (Broadway World). The storied theater also saw the world premiere of Bohjalian’s “tart and tension-fraught slice of suburban life” (Community News) The Club, in 2024.

Bohjalian’s books have been translated into 35 languages and chosen as Best Books of the Year by The Washington Post, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Hartford Courant, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Kirkus, Bookpage, and Salon. Bohjalian has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, Cosmopolitan, Reader’s Digest, and The Boston Globe Sunday Magazine. He was a weekly columnist in Vermont for The Burlington Free Press from 1992 to 2015.

His awards include the Walter Cerf Medal for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts, the New England Book Award, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) Freedom Award for his work educating Americans about the Armenian genocide, the ANCA Arts and Letters Award for The Sandcastle Girls, and other honors. He is a Fellow of the Vermont Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Bohjalian graduated from Amherst College and lives in Vermont with his wife, the photographer Victoria Blewer.

For more information about Chris Bohjalian, please visit him on Facebook, Instagram, Goodreads, Twitter, or at chrisbohjalian.com.