Miranda Cowley Heller’s The Paper Palaceis the latest pick for Reese Witherspoon’s popular book club, the actor announced in an Instagram post.
Heller’s debut novel, published Tuesday by Riverhead, follows a happily married 50-year-old woman who has a sexual encounter with her best friend while on summer vacation at her family’s Cape Cod compound. A reviewer for Kirkus wrote, “From the first pages of her debut novel, Heller pulls no punches. Some of them just sneak up on you later on.”
“I was totally immersed in the fast-paced narrative that seamlessly wove together past [and] present,” Witherspoon wrote. “And ALL the beautiful details in this book are enough to pull at your heartstrings…every sentence is SO vivid and luxurious you feel like you’re transported to a lakeside retreat in Cape Cod with a family you have known forever.”
Heller reacted to the selection of her book on Instagram, writing, “I am jumping for joy—well I would be if I weren’t lying on the floor in a state of shock and amazement at the extraordinary luck I have had and the support from this instagram community.”
Witherspoon’s club isn’t the only one to take an interest in Heller’s novel. Barnes and Noble’s club also announced that the book is its latest pick. Shannon DeVito, the company’s director of books, raved, “Miranda Cowley Heller’s astonishing debut novel is an utterly compelling story of love and desire, secrets and lies and paths not taken. This is the type of novel that will leave readers wanting to discuss it with others, making it a perfect Book Club selection.”
Michael Schaub is a Texas-based journalist and regular contributor to NPR.
