Oprah Winfrey picks Richard Russo's 'Bridge of Sighs' for her book club

NEW YORK – Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Richard Russo i s the latest author to be welcomed into the inner circle of Oprah Winfrey book club picks.

Winfrey announced Tuesday that she had selected Russo's “Bridge of Sighs,” a 2007 novel centered in a rural New York community. Russo has set much of his work in small, Northeastern towns, including “Nobody's Fool,” later adapted into a movie of the same name that starred Paul Newman; and “Empire Falls,” winner of the Pulitzer in 2002 and the basis for an Emmy-winning HBO series that featured Newman and his wife, Joanne Woodward.

Winfrey often chooses new books for her club, but has at times looked to older releases, from Toni Morrison's “The Bluest Eye” to John Steinbeck's “East of Eden.”

“It is, of course, a profound honor to be chosen for Oprah’s Book Club,” Russo said in a statement. “But to be chosen for a novel written two decades earlier? A book that will introduce a whole new generation of readers to my work? How special is that?”

A conversation between Winfrey and Russo, held recently at a Starbucks in Seattle, can be seen on Winfrey's YouTube channel and on other outlets where podcasts are aired. Starbucks is the current partner for Winfrey's book club, which she founded in 1996.

On Tuesday, Winfrey issued a statement praising “Bridge of Sighs” as a “classic summer read,” with "romance, unrequited love, life-long friendships, and of course — epic family drama.”

“If you’re a fan of Richard Russo or discovering him for the first time, here’s your opportunity to read one of America’s most beloved writers,” she added.