CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE – Good People

In honor of Arab-American Heritage Month, we have chosen to read the extraordinary debut novel from Patmeena Sabit who was born in Kabul and grew up in Virginia. The book is extraordinary – it tells the story of a family of Afghan refugees living in Virginia as they experience a time of great fortune and devastating loss. It explores the reality of the immigrant experience in America and the power of cultural identity in American life.  The book is sensational, but don’t take our word for it. Just look at these reviews:

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“Good People is a thrilling tour de force of a novel. I’ll be recommending this book to everyone.”—Ann Patchett

“This devastating début novel takes the form of an oral history about a tragedy that shatters a family. At its heart is a couple who arrived in the U.S. in the late nineteen-nineties as refugees from Afghanistan. They prospered, and brought up four children in an affluent suburb in Virginia. Rotating testimonies from people they know—family friends, a cousin, lawyers—offer theories about what led to the novel’s central catastrophe. Once the nature of the tragedy has been revealed, the book transforms into an intimate study of an Afghan immigrant community forced to reevaluate what it means to raise children in America.”—The New Yorker

“One of those novels where you know right away that a mysterious, unspeakable something has happened, and you are simultaneously terrified and desperate to get the details. . . . This skillful debut is both a bated-breath thriller and a richly atmospheric portrait of an immigrant community.”—Oprah Daily

“Good People is a gripping, thought-provoking novel that peels back the layers of family, reputation and truth. It’s a story that will leave readers questioning just how well we ever know the people closest to us.”—Women’s World

“A month into the year, the first great novel of 2026 is here. Patmeena Sabit’s debut, Good People, may remind readers of Celeste Ng’s bestselling Little Fires Everywhere in that it’s a domestic tale that reads like a propulsive thriller and springs from a clash of cultures.”—The Minnesota Star Tribune

“Sabit debuts with an electrifying whodunit . . . This propulsive tale heralds Sabit as a writer worth keeping tabs on.”—Publishers Weekly

“Good People is equal parts an immigrant novel, a tightly wound mystery, and an oral history. Patmeena Sabit moves between these with insight, ease, and grace to give us a remarkable, unsettling snapshot of our complicated times.”—Sameer Pandya, author of Our Beautiful Boys

“With startling empathy for all sides, Patmeena Sabit plumbs the fault lines of honor, truth, prejudice, and how identity shapes guilt in the aftermath of tragedy. What a spectacular triumph this book is.”—Khaled Hosseini

“A triumphant debut! With the sophistication and assurance of a seasoned writer, Patmeena Sabit has crafted a prescient East-West story as only a third culture talent could have. The plot: masterful. The writing: beguiling. The pacing: breakneck. The possibility I will read this again and again: absolute.”—Alka Joshi, author of The Henna Artist and the Jaipur Trilogy

“Sabit’s first novel masterfully dissects the glittering facade of the American Dream . . . This all unfolds like a binge-worthy true-crime podcast . . . At once heartbreaking and hypnotic, Sabit’s is a novel that demands to be devoured.”—Booklist, starred review