Author Marissa Stapley has become the first Canadian to receive the Reese Witherspoon Shriver Book Club Selection for her novel “Lucky.”
Before that, Stapley appeared at Witherspoon’s Lucky magazine event back in March and the conversation with her spread across media outlets and publications.
Now, in an April email from Stapley to Witherspoon from the author, the actress announced that she will read the first chapter of “Lucky” to a live audience when the book club is next in Toronto, according to the Toronto Globe and Mail.
Stapley has yet to learn which chapter Witherspoon will read at the live event, according to the Los Angeles Times.
That will not be the first time the “Big Little Lies” star will get to read an excerpt. She famously read Stapley’s “Oxygen” to President Obama in front of an audience in 2013.
“Ahead of our appearance at the White House in 2013, we read each other the entire first chapter of ‘Oxygen’ together,” said Stapley in the email to Witherspoon. “Michelle McGovern called it a fantastic episode in her book club. I was so blown away to hear Michelle describe it as ‘the moment you realize you’re not alone.’ After that experience, we knew that Michelle and Reese are kindred spirits. They understand the hard work it takes to be a reader.”
Lucky the book is about an orphan who gains a new sense of purpose when she is adopted into an English family of wealthy friends.
“Lucky” was published earlier this year by HarperCollins Canada. The book has reached multiple Bestseller lists, and made its debut on the New York Times Best Seller list for adult contemporary fiction. The book was also named a New York Times Best of 2018.
“Lucky” was recently named a Toronto International Film Festival selection, and will be released internationally in 2019.