Oprah Winfrey’s latest book club pick already has the literary community abuzz.
Winfrey chose “A Guardian and a Thief” by Megha Majumdar for October, a book that’s also been named a finalist for both the National Book Award and the Kirkus Prize. Her 119th selection promises a “kaleidoscopic” family and survival drama told over one week.
“I was spellbound from page one,” Winfrey said in a statement. “Megha Majumdar is one of those exquisitely skilled authors who takes us into the story of characters and cultural conflicts and leaves us spellbound until the last word and beyond. Who was the ‘Guardian’ who was the ‘Thief?’ I’m still thinking about it.”
Oprah’s Book Club October pick: ‘A Guardian and a Thief’ by Megha Majumdar
“A Guardian and a Thief” is set in a near-future Kolkata, India ravaged by flood and famine. Protagonist Ma, her 2-year-old daughter and her elderly father are preparing to flee to Michigan to join Ma’s husband after obtaining coveted visas. But when they awake on the morning of their flight, they discover the immigration documents have been stolen. The aftermath unravels both Ma’s search for the thief and the story of the thief himself, desperate to take any measure if it means he can care for his family.
“I was once a girl in India who struggled to learn the English language,” Majumdar said in a statement. “I could not have imagined this turn in my life. What an immense, surreal joy and honor to have my novel ‘A Guardian and a Thief’ selected for Oprah’s Book Club. By lifting up books and making space for them in public life, Oprah encourages us all to take seriously our inner lives as readers and thinkers. I am so grateful to her.”
“A Guardian and a Thief” is one of five books chosen as finalists for the National Book Award for fiction, one of literature’s highest honors. The winner of the prestigious prize will be announced at a ceremony on Nov. 19.
Clare Mulroy is USA TODAY’s Books Reporter, where she covers buzzy releases, chats with authors and dives into the culture of reading. Find her on Instagram, subscribe to our weekly Books newsletter or tell her what you’re reading at [email protected].
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