Jenna Bush Hager has selected Kehinde Fadipe’s The Sun Sets in Singapore as the latest pick for her Today show book club.
The debut novel from actor and screenwriter Fadipe, set for publication Tuesday by Grand Central, tells the story of Dara, Amaka, and Lillian, three expatriate women living in Singapore, whose friendship is threatened by the arrival of a handsome lawyer. A critic for Kirkus praised the book as “a lovely exploration of the phase of self-discovery between early adulthood and middle age.”
Hager announced her selection on the Today show, saying, “It is a dazzling, sexy debut novel.…It’s about community and race and friendship. If you want a book that’s going to be an escape, which I think we all need, some fun, you get to travel to exotic Singapore.”
Hager continued, “I think the community is going to love it, because it’s also about race and identity, it’s about what bonds us, and when we really need community.”
Fadipe discussed her novel’s selection for the book club with Today.com, saying, “What’s really exciting is the possibility of being read by lots of people that wouldn’t have read it otherwise. Honestly, just having the book published was it, so anything after that, it’s really just sprinkles. But this is like gold-dusted sprinkles—edible gold sprinkles.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
