Our Fort Greene neighbor, the Greenlight Bookstore just received the ultimate pop-culture literary validation: their recent ‘First Editions Club’ pick, The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by first time novelist Ayana Mathis was endorsed by Oprah Winfrey’s Book Club. The fact that the scion of daytime TV, who’s book club has both made and broken writers (remember James Frey?), was preceded by Brooklyn’s own independent bookstore speaks volumes for Greenlight. This news surely eliminates any doubts one may have about trusting your local bookstore.
Greenlight’s First Editions Club, which made the pick, is comprised of a group of literary experts who hand-pick the best fiction, non-fiction, and poetry works for their members. Once a month, subscribers receive selected first edition works from Greenlight which are not only great reads, but great additions to a growing library. Their new pick, Ayana Mathis’s The Twelve Tribes of Hattie, is a multi-generational story of resilience. The catalyst for the story centers around Hattie and her family moving from the Jim Crow south to Philadelphia during the Great Migration of the early twenties. The trials and tribulations of this clan span throughout twelve different members and fifty years. Oprah rightly compares Hattie’s biblical themes of migration and redemption to one of her favorite authors, Toni Morrison. Mathis is certainly on her way to becoming a literary stronghold in her own right.
Mathis will launch her book back where it all began, at the Greenlight Bookstore on January 7th at 7:30pm. The author will be doing a reading and signing copies of her book so make sure to stop by! Also, don’t forget to check Greenlight Bookstore’s staff picks online to be a step ahead of everyone else on what’s new and noteworthy in literature.
Oprah poses with Ayana Mathis’s debut novel, “The Twelve Tribes of Hattie”