Sophie Chen Keller: "Little Wonder" | Oprah's Book Club

Oprah’s Book Club 124th selection is Little Wonder by author Sophie Chen Keller. Oprah and Sophie sit down with an enthusiastic audience of readers to discuss Sophie's childhood spent both in the USA and China and how that experience impacted her writing.

She also shares how becoming a mother for the first time was the inspiration for Little Wonder. The story is about a profound bond of love that connects a mother, Song, to her son, named River.

A cataclysmic roller coaster of events is set in motion when Song loses hold of River’s hand in the teeming crowds at a Beijing train station. Throughout this story of love, perseverance and hope mother and son desperately seek to find their way back to each other.

Readers share that the climactic end had them in tears. Audience members also share the passages that moved them the most and ask questions of Sophie.

BUY THE BOOK! 00:00:00 - Welcome Sophie Chen Keller, author of “Little Wonder” 00:06:05 - Writing ‘Little Wonder’ 00:09:40 - How Sophie found her title 00:12:32 - Her writing process 00:14:05 - Characters and plot 00:16:10 - Writing from a boy’s perspective 00:18:00 - Sophie’s love of piano 00:19:00 - The bumpy road to ‘Little Wonder’ 00:23:50 - Why the novel was set in 2016 00:25:45 - Rewriting the book 3-4 times 00:29:50 - Motherhood in the novel 00:32:30 - Class in the novel 00:35:00 - Purpose and motherhood 00:37:50 - How Sophie relates to music 00:41:00 - Song’s grief 00:43:20 - Tchaikovsky and the story 00:45:30 - How Sophie knew the ending Follow Oprah Winfrey on Social: Instagram Facebook TikTok Listen to the full podcast: Spotify Apple Podcasts #oprahsbookclub Learn more about your ad choices. Visit