Jenna Bush Hager has selected Oyinkan Braithwaite’s Cursed Daughters as the latest pick for her Today show book club.
Braithwaite’s novel, scheduled for publication Tuesday by Doubleday, follows Ebun, a woman in Lagos, Nigeria, who gives birth to a daughter, Eniiyi, shortly after her cousin Monife dies. The family believes Eniiyi is the cursed reincarnation of Monife. A critic for Kirkus wrote of the book, “Is this a tragedy or a comedy? Though it ends up uneasily in the middle, it’s well-written and juicy.”
Hager announced the book’s selection on the Today show, saying, “I have loved this author since her unforgettable debut, My Sister, the Serial Killer. Her mix of humor and wisdom is super fresh, and her newest book, Cursed Daughters, captivated me from the very first page.…It’s a story about family, sisterhood, the weight of what we carry with a few epic love stories at the heart.…Both funny and deeply moving, this book had me—I was reaching for a pen, underlining really beautiful things throughout it.”
In an interview with Kirkus, Braithwaite said that she had to overcome fear to write the novel, her first in seven years.
“My dad was bullying me a lot!” she said. “He kept reminding me how long it had been since My Sister, the Serial Killer came out. He’d tell me I didn’t want to be a one-book wonder. Having him buzzing in my ear helped. I keep unfinished stories on my laptop, so I said, ‘OK, you know what, let me tell you some of the stories I’ve got, and we’ll decide which one will work.’ I started narrating one of these stories to him, and I was able to keep going, and it all came together.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
