V.J. Hamilton is the author of short fiction and the novel
The Rise & Fall of Joe Mag (on submission).
Book Club Fiction
A riches-to-rags dramedy that explores the fallout from a DNA test surprise.
Joe Magnusson, the son of a famous public intellectual, is in the prime of a successful university career built on the prestige of his family name, when DNA testing shows he is not his father’s biological son. Going through five stages of grief, Joe gets stuck in denial. He’s too ashamed to confide in his beloved wife, who hails from a prominent Boston family, afraid she’ll think less of him. Soon a nasty new half-sister comes knocking. The more half-siblings he meets, the more he feels like an impostor. Can Joe cope with his crumbling self-identity while secretly juggling a second, dysfunctional family?
THE RISE AND FALL OF JOE MAG explores themes of family, parentage, and belonging.
Bio
V.J. Hamilton is an author and editor, a lover of reading, music, and art, and the steward of a large, messy-but-beloved book collection. She hopes to visit every world-famous library before she dies, but for now she spends her time revising. And plotting and scheming.