Good People: A Novel
“A thrilling tour de force of a novel. I’ll be recommending this book to everyone.”—ANN PATCHETT
“[A] gorgeous and powerful debut.”—TOMMY ORANGE, The New York Times
“A stunning read.”—KHALED HOSSEINI
“Utterly addictive, Good People will have everyone talking.”—PAULA HAWKINS “Brilliant, original, compelling storytelling.”—ELIN HILDERBRAND
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • In a haunting debut novel that reads like true crime, told through a kaleidoscope of perspectives, a private tragedy thrusts one family into the court of public opinion as the media—and their own community—dissect every aspect of their lives.
ONE OF THE NEW YORKER’S BEST BOOKS OF 2026 SO FAR
Zorah Sharaf could do no wrong. Zorah Sharaf brought shame upon her family. What’s the truth? Depends on who you ask.
The Sharaf family is the picture of success. Prosperous, rich, happy. They came to this country as refugees with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. And now, after years of hard work, they live in the most exclusive neighborhood, their growing family attending the most prestigious schools. Zorah, the eldest daughter, is the apple of her father’s eye.
When an unthinkable tragedy strikes, everyone is left reeling. There is talk that behind closed doors the Sharafs’ happy household was anything but. Did the Sharaf family achieve the American dream? Or was the image of the model immigrant family just a façade?
Like a literary game of ping-pong, Good People compels the reader to reconsider what might have happened even on the previous page. It’s a riveting, provocative story of family—sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, and the communities that claim us as family in difficult times.
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Community Reviews
“A girl's reputation never just hers. In it she holds the name of her whole family. Her father's name, her brother's name, her mother's and sister's names, the names of her grandfather's grandfathers. For good people, name is everything. The beginning and the end. Once my good name is lost, it's lost forever. As long as men live and have memory, my family's name is stained."
Such a powerful piece of literature. Beautifully written, this story packed a strong emotional punch, focused on the idea of honour killing in a Muslim-American community. The message to Western society was loud and clear that Muslim people are just that; people. They are good people who work hard and love their families, just like anybody else. But in the background, the question of honour over happiness lingered.
The multiple POV served an effective purpose, enhancing the character development of the key members of the family. We got to know both parents, the older brother, and the alleged victim mainly through the eyes of others, and only occassionally heard directly from the father. I feel that this illustrated a deeply patriarchal family structure where the women and children defer to the men as head of the household at all costs and helped create the right amount of tension and uncertainty for the mystery.
“This is the world, as God made it. A man is a man and a woman a woman. They are not the same. They're not seen and judged the same. Even among you people that's true. With all your talk about equality and women's rights, in this country a man is still a man and woman is a woman. Deny it night and day, but in your hearts you know it's true.”
There were so many times I thought I had figured out what had happened and then was pulled in another direction with my theory. But mostly, my heart broke for this whole family. I was horrified for Zorah, caught between her ancestral culture and the culture she was growing up in, and I was appalled by the insights and reactions from outside the family. Particularly striking were the contrasts -- from disgusting bigotry, blatant lynch mentality, and virtue signaling to the very different perceptions of strangers versus the intimate knowledge held by those who were actually close to the various members of the family.
The end left me with a few questions, and the story will stick with me for some time to come.
D
At first, I found this book a little disorienting, but once I realized the story was unfolding like a documentary through multiple perspectives, I settled into its unique style. It was thoughtfully written and did an excellent job of illustrating how one person’s character can be perceived so differently depending on who’s telling the story. It was both educational and heartbreaking, raising thought-provoking questions about memory, bias, and truth. I can absolutely see why this novel is so widely discussed, and I finished it still contemplating what really happened to Zorah.
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