"Urgently thought-provoking and powerful, this multi-layered beautifully eloquent novel of societal expectations and issues hits with pin-point precision. "
Clever, pointed, and thoroughly provocative, yet full of compassion, this very modern tale of identity, community, and culture soars onto our LoveReading Star Books list. Afghan refugees find success in Virginia, but tragedy strikes when their daughter dies and questions are raised. This stunning novel will sit within my favourite books of the year, as debut author Patmeena Sabit writes with a beautifully nuanced eloquence. Short sharp chapters contain viewpoints of the people surrounding the death, from neighbours to friends, newspaper reports and legal statements, yet we never hear from the family themselves. The multiple perspectives create an intricately layered tale that is incredibly powerful as it never quite settles, instead it always challenges and provokes. The author is able, in just a few words, to flesh out the individual even though they are never directly described. As I moved through each perspective I was fascinated to observe my own thoughts altering and changing. While incredibly hard-hitting, I felt this story was told with love and empathy and so I have chosen it to feature as a Liz Pick of the Month as well as Star Book. Direct and challenging, yet subtle and compassionate, Good People is a memorable and compelling debut novel.
| Primary Genre | Modern and Contemporary Fiction |
| Other Genres: | |
| Recommendations: |
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Zehra Sharaf is the idolized teenage daughter of Afghan American parents who escaped the horrors of war in Afghanistan and resettled as refugees in Northern Virginia. Zehra is going to graduate from her prestigious high school with honors. She's going to go to Georgetown and then Harvard Law School. One day, the Sharafs boast, she might even be a Supreme Court Justice.
When Zehra's body is discovered in a car at the bottom of a canal, her family is shattered - and as the investigation unfolds, the illusion of their perfect teenage daughter is shattered as well. In the eyes of her Afghan community, Zehra was a rebel who had disgraced her family by running away with a boy. According to her friends, she was a young woman torn between her ultra-conservative community and her desire to live on her own terms. Soon everyone who hears about the case has their own certainty as to whether Zehra's death was a terrible accident-or whether the Sharafs are guilty of an honour crime against their own daughter.
Told through the voices surrounding the Sharafs, Good People traces the immigrant family's rags-to-riches rise; moves through the year leading up to Zehra's tragedy; and explores the aftermath as the twin forces of the police investigation and the court of public opinion draw battle lines between those who knew Zehra and her family best and those who think they know them...
Good People features in the following genres: Book Club Recommendations, Liz Robinson's Picks of the Month, Recommendations, Star Books, General Fiction, Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Sharing Diverse Voices, Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Narrative theme: Social issues, Narrative theme: Diversity, equality, inclusion, Narrative theme: Displacement, exile, migration, Narrative theme: Death, grief, loss, Narrative theme: Identity / belonging
Good People is available in Paperback, Hardback
Good People was written by Patmeena Sabit and published by Virago an imprint of Little, Brown
Good People has 400 pages
£8.99
