Towson Alumna Jeanine Cummins' Novel Makes Oprah Book Club List
TOWSON, Md. (WJZ) -- A Towson University alumna got a phone call she couldn't quite believe- from Oprah!
Jeanine Cummins' new book, American Dirt, is featured on the Oprah Book Club list.
"The most surreal moment of my life," Cummins wrote on Facebook. "I'm so grateful to the one and only Ms. Oprah Winfrey for choosing my book!"
American Dirt is a novel describing the ordeal of a Mexican woman who had to leave behind her life and escape as an immigrant to U.S. with her son.
Stephen King called the novel, "Extraordinary."
Cummins discussed her novel with Winfrey on CBS Morning News.
"I was in from the very first sentence." Winfrey said.
"The four words every writer dreams of hearing, Jeanine it's Oprah Winfrey." Cummins said when she got the call from Oprah.
'I think I said very early in the conversation, 'This is not Oprah Winfrey right now,' and she said, 'Yes, it is, it's Oprah!'" Cummins added.
She said she always knew she wanted to write about immigration, but she was worried she didn't know enough about the topic.
But, after five years of research and two failed drafts, she was convinced to go into the point of view of Lydia- the mother in the story.
Watch more of the interview on CBS Morning News.
