Ayana Mathis

Brooklyn author Ayana Mathis launches a promising career with her debut novel The Twelve Tribes of Hattie! Universally loved by the Greenlight staff, the novel has just been selected for Oprah’s Book Club 2.0, and Greenlight is proud to host this celebration of Ayana’s literary achievement. Through the life of her unforgettable heroine, Hattie Shepherd, Mathis tells the story of the children of the Great Migration, a story of bitterness and love and the promise of a new North, built on the backs of Hattie's children. Praised by fellow authors including Paul Harding ("beautiful and necessary from the very first sentence”) and Marilynne Robinson (“a vibrant and compassionate portrait of a family… This first novel is a work of rare maturity”), The Twelve Tribes of Hattie marks the debut of a new voice Greenlight is proud to present. Join us for a reading and signing with the author followed by a wine reception.