Eleanor Shearer’s River Sing Me Home is the latest selection for the Good Morning America book club.

Shearer’s novel, published Tuesday by Berkley, tells the story of Rachel, a woman formerly enslaved in Barbados who travels across the Caribbean to find her five children, who were sold into slavery.

GMA co-anchor Janai Norman announced the book’s selection on the show, saying, “It is for anyone who has lost that love and moved heaven and earth to get it back. This is a debut novel that you’re going to want to read in one sitting.”

A critic for Kirkus found less to praise in the novel, writing, “A formerly enslaved mother’s search for her lost children is emotionally diluted by lack of craft.”

“River Sing Me Home is about a mother’s fierce love and what it means to be free,” Shearer said in a remote video appearance on the show. “I was inspired by the women in the Caribbean we know really did try to put their families back together again after emancipation. And Rachel also draws on the wonderful Black women in my own life, like my mother, my aunt, my grandmother, and my step-grandmother. I can’t wait to share River Sing Me Home with you all.”

Shearer shared news of her book’s selection on Twitter, writing, “Some truly pinch-me-I-must-be-dreaming news!!!!!”

Michael Schaub, a journalist and regular contributor to NPR, lives near Austin, Texas.