Oprah Winfrey has selected New York Times best-selling author Ann Napolitano’s novel Hello Beautiful as her 100th book club selection, according to reports.
Hello Beautiful marks a milestone for Winfrey’s book club, which started in 1996, which Winfrey said she started because of her love of books.
Winfrey announced her choice first on “CBS Mornings” Wednesday, saying that the book’s relatable message made it an easy pick for her.
“It’s one of those choices where you feel like I can’t wait for everybody else to have a chance to get to know these characters,” Winfrey said.
The novel focuses on sisterhood and also explores themes like grief, longing and love — and how love can heal, Winfrey said.
“I thought it was about grief and longing and love and how love can make you whole. It was about joy. It felt so much like the truth to me that I wanted to not only keep reading, but I had to slow myself down from reading. And this is when you know you’re in a good book,” said Winfrey.
Napolitano said the book pays homage to the come-of-age classic, Little Woman — although she did not initially set out to write a tribute to the Louisa May Alcott novel.
“It was really the characters who were comparing themselves to which March sister they were. And I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, yeah, look at that. That makes sense,'” Napolitano said.
