Lonely foster child Phoebe's life changes the day she meets a kindred soul in the local library, both gushing over "Jane Eyre." Phoebe living on the "wrong side" of the town, while privileged Luna has wanted for nothing. Becoming fast friends on a "soul" level, Luna runs the show while Phoebe is fine hiding behind her hair and glasses until the day she decides to leave her foster mother's home for good. Too full of pain and confusion about the family that gave her away and resenting her foster mother's attempts to have her forge a relationship with her biological parents and siblings, Phoebe runs away and starts to live her own life. Making some questionable decisions, Phoebe is now writing 50 years later about her now extinct friendship with Luna and how she has forged her own path for herself and her son.

I came away from this novel with more questions about the various characters than answers. The fact that Phoebe is writing 50 years later and remembering her life as a 17-year-old isn't really made clear until much later in the book. I found this overly long, wandering and rather pointless. If you like to read about the passage of time, memories and what a mother's love really is and you have a lot of time to invest in reading, then this one is for you.

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.