Oprah Winfrey encouraged readers Wednesday to pick up Ken Follett’s 1989 historical novel “The Pillars of the Earth,” naming the work her next book club selection.

Oprah Winfrey chose Wednesday a historical novel set in 12th-century England, chronicling the building of the world’s largest Gothic cathedral, amidst a “struggle between good and evil that will turn church against state, and brother against brother,” as the book synopsis is presented on the talk show host’s website.

Oprah said of the book that it is “like nothing I would ever read or had ever read before.”

“I got to 800 pages, and I slowed myself down because I didn't want it to end,” Winfrey said in a statement released by Harpo, her Chicago-based production company.

“Pillars” was first published in 1989 by William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins, which in turn is part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. A special collector’s edition was published in 1999 by Penguin Putnam to mark the 10th anniversary of the original edition, according to Ken Follett’s website.

The author himself marvels at the success of “Pillars,” writing on his website (www.ken-follett.com): “It's overwhelmingly the book that readers talk to me about when I meet them in bookshops. It's becoming a cult.”

According to his website, the novel sells about 100,000 copies a year in paperback in the United States and has been enjoying broad success in Europe as well. It was number one in the UK and Italy and it was on the German bestseller list for six years.

It is known that when Oprah picks a book for her club, sales usually increase significantly. A spokesperson for New American Library, a unit of Penguin Group (USA) Inc, told Reuters that the publisher does not have an estimate on what impact Oprah’s recommendation will have on sales, but it is prepared to satisfy readers’ demands.

“Obviously Oprah has a huge impact on book sales,” spokesman Craig Burke was quoted as saying. He added that New American Library has shipped 612,000 copies to retailers in anticipation of the announcement.

Follett, 58, has written thrillers like “Eye of the Needle,” “The Man From St. Petersburg” and “The Key to Rebecca.” His latest novel, “World Without End,” released in October, is the sequel to “The Pillars of the Earth.” It takes place two centuries later, in 1327, and follows the lives of four children that witness a murder which will haunt them for the rest of their lives.

Follett’s website says it does not matter whether you read “Pillars” or “World” first. The book has already become a No. 1 New York Times best-seller.

“The Pillars of the Earth” marks Oprah’s 60th selection for her book club, and her fifth this year. Her previous choices were actor Sidney Poitier's memoir “Measure of a Man,” Cormac McCarthy's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “The Road,” “Middlesex” by Jeffrey Eugenides and “Love in the Time of Cholera” by Nobel Prize-winning Colombian Gabriel Garcia Marquez.