Jeanine Cummins, SPEAK TO ME OF HOME: A Novel
Totally Booked with Zibby
Zibby Owens
4.5 • 643 Ratings
🗓️ 16 May 2025
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Totally Booked: LIVE! In this special episode of the podcast (in-person at the Whitby Hotel with a live audience!), #1 New York Times bestselling author Jeanine Cummins joins Zibby on stage to discuss SPEAK TO ME OF HOME, a striking multigenerational story inspired by her own family’s complex Puerto Rican heritage. The conversation explores identity, belonging, intergenerational trauma, and the aftermath of the controversy surrounding AMERICAN DIRT. Jeanine opens up about the emotional journey that led to this novel, her grandmother's legacy, the pain of losing a language, and the nuances of being both white and Latina. Together, she and Zibby discuss the power of fiction to spark empathy and difficult conversations, the dangers of censorship, and how stories connect us all.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, this is Zibi Owens, and you're listening to Totally Booked with Zibby. Formerly, moms don't have time to read books. In my daily show, I interview today's latest, best-selling, buzziest, or underrated authors and story creators, whose work I think is worth your time. As a bookstore owner, publisher, author, and obviously podcaster, I get a comprehensive |
| 0:24.0 | look at everything that's coming out and spend my time curating the best books so you don't |
| 0:29.3 | have to. |
| 0:30.3 | Stay in the know, get insider insights, and connect with guests like I do every single day. |
| 0:36.2 | For more information, go to zibbimedia.com and follow me on Instagram at Zibi Owens. |
| 0:44.4 | Welcome back to Totally Booked with Zibi. |
| 0:47.2 | I am so excited to be here with Janine Cummins to talk about her latest novels, |
| 0:51.6 | Speak to Me of Home. |
| 0:53.1 | This is so exciting. |
| 0:54.3 | Welcome, Janine. |
| 0:55.0 | Thank you, Zippy. |
| 0:56.0 | I'm so happy to be back. Yay. I'll just read you a little bit about Janine in case you don't know. Janine Cummins is the number one New York Times bestselling author. We have to talk about how that feels. of American Dirt, which was an Oprah's book club |
| 1:11.5 | and a Barnes & Noble book club selection, as well as a number one indie next pick. The novel |
| 1:16.7 | has been translated into 37 languages, and I think I could name 37 languages, and sold |
| 1:23.6 | more than 3.5 million copies worldwide. Her other works include the memoir or Rip in Heaven |
| 1:28.9 | and the Novels The Outside Boy and The Crooked Branch. She lives in New York with her husband, |
| 1:34.1 | two daughters, and their dogs. Welcome. Thank you. Oh my gosh. Okay, this book was so good. You were |
| 1:41.8 | such a great writer. I know you know that I'm such a huge, |
| 1:45.0 | huge fan of yours, but oh my gosh. Tell everybody what speak to me of home is about. |
| 1:50.0 | The hardest question, right? A hundred thousand words distilled to like a couple sentences. |
| 1:55.5 | Elevator pitch. Go. I'm not good at this part, but it's three generations of a family |
| 2:00.4 | very similar to my own. |
... |
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