Meet the Author

Welcome #1 New York Times bestselling author Jeanine Cummins to the library for an evening of conversation and insight into her writing and newest novel, Speak to Me of Home—this year’s Community Read selection.

Born on a U.S. Naval Base in Rota, Spain, and raised in Gaithersburg, Maryland, Jeanine experienced a life-changing tragedy at sixteen when her family suffered the violent loss of her two cousins. Her brother was the only surviving victim of the attack—a story she later shared in her bestselling memoir A Rip in Heaven.

Jeanine Cummins is best known for her #1 New York Times bestseller American Dirt, an Oprah’s Book Club and Barnes & Noble Book Club pick that has sold more than three and a half million copies worldwide. She is also the author of The Outside Boy and The Crooked Branch.

Her newest novel, Speak to Me of Home—set in Puerto Rico—offers a moving, multigenerational exploration of marriage, family, and identity. At its heart, it’s a story of mothers and daughters that asks: How can three women who share so much have such different ideas of where they come from and who they are? And can they find their way back to one another?

Jeanine lives in New York with her husband, their two daughters, and their dogs, but she also has deep ties to St. Louis, which have influenced both her life and the fictional worlds she creates. Learn more at jeaninecummins.com.

Interviews with the author
2025 Gaithersburg Book Festival: Jeanine Cummins
The Book Report Network: Bookreporter Talks To… Jeanine Cummins

Podcasts with the author
Totally Booked with Zibby: Jeanine Cummins, Speak to Me of Home: A Novel