Author Biography | Interview | Books by this Author | Read-Alikes
Jeanine Cummins was born in Spain. She studied creative writing at Towson University before living in Belfast for several years. In 1997, she moved to New York City where she spent 10 years working in the publishing industry.
Cummins is the author of the novels The Outside Boy and The Crooked Branch and the bestselling memoir A Rip in Heaven. She lives in New York with her husband and two children.
This bio was last updated on 08/31/2019. In a perfect world, we would like to keep all of BookBrowse's biographies up to date, but with many thousands of lives to keep track of it's simply impossible to do. So, if the date of this bio is not recent, you may wish to do an internet search for a more current source, such as the author's website or social media presence. If you are the author or publisher and would like us to update this biography, send the complete text and we will replace the old with the new.
Did you always want to be a writer?
I always dreamed of being a writer, but I didn't grow up with any sense that it was possible to make a living that way. My mom was a nurse and my dad was in the Navy. My grandfather was a professional musician, but even that seemed gritty, like a real job. He carried a tuba and bass around, which felt like tools to me. So I always thought I'd end up doing something practical. I thought I'd be a park ranger or a carpenter who submitted poems to local newspaper contests. But then my cousin Julie was murdered when I was 16. She was supposed to be the writer. So I think losing her, losing her talent, and understanding that the life she was supposed to live was no longer available to her, made me super determined to live out the dream we both shared, as if I had to do it now, for both of us. I like the idea that some of her flame may have landed on me when she departed.
In several interviews for your novel The Crooked Branch, you mention starting your book on immigration, but very differently. How did it evolve to its present state?
I'd like to say that it was meticulously planned and that its evolution was organic and beautiful, but the truth is that I wrote two failed drafts of this novel ...
Jessica Goudeau has written for the Atlantic, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Teen Vogue, among other places, and is a former columnist for Catapult. She produced projects for Teen Vogue ("Ask a Syrian Girl") and "A Line ... (more)
If you enjoyed:
American Dirt
Try:
After the Last Border
by Jessica Goudeau
Helon Habila is the author of the novels, Waiting for an Angel, Measuring Time, Oil on Water, and Travelers and a nonfiction book, The Chibok Girls. His writing has won numerous awards including the Caine Prize, the ... (more)
If you enjoyed:
American Dirt
Try:
Travelers
by Helon Habila
We recommend 6 similar authors
The Witches at the End of the World
by Chelsea Iversen
Two sisters find themselves at odds in this historical fantasy set during a dark Norwegian winter.
Above the Salt
by Katherine Vaz
A sweeping love story that follows two Portugueses refugees who flee religious violence to build new lives in Civil-War America.
Any activity becomes creative when the doer cares about doing it right, or better.
Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
