Thao Thai’s Banyan Moon is the latest pick for Jenna Bush Hager’s Today show book club.
Thai’s debut novel, scheduled for publication next week by Mariner, follows Ann, a woman who discovers she’s pregnant right as she learns that her beloved grandmother has died. She also finds out that she and her estranged mother have inherited a manor from her grandmother. A critic for Kirkus wrote of the book, “Thai has created three strong, unique women determined to find their own paths despite daunting circumstances.”
Hager announced the pick on the morning show, telling Savannah Guthrie, “I loved this book, and you know who’s going to love it? Your mother.…You also will sit down and finish it in one reading. That’s what I did. You will not be able to put it down.”
Thai told Today.com’s Anna Kaplan that being selected for Hager’s book club was a longtime dream of hers.
“I had been carrying this hope secretly in my heart for so long,” she said. “I wanted it with every fiber of my being, actually. She really picks diverse books that deal with a lot of issues, of family and heritage, and her books have always spoken to me. So the thought of being on that list—I would dream about it, I would literally dream it.”
Michael Schaub, a journalist and regular contributor to NPR, lives near Austin, Texas.
