“An exhilarating debut novel” (R.O. Kwon The New York Times Book Review ) about the daughter
of Afghan refugees and her year of self-discovery—a portrait of the artist as a young woman set
in a Berlin that can’t escape its history A girl can get in almost anywhere even if she
can’t get out. SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION • LONGLISTED FOR THE CENTER
FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE • A TIME AND ELECTRIC LIT BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR “A
no-bullsh*t must-read debut.”—Kaveh Akbar “Kaleidoscopic full of style and soul.”—Raven
Leilani “Aber writes with . . . masterful precision.”—Leila Lalami The Atlantic "Once in a
blue moon a debut novel comes along announcing a voice quite unlike any other with a layered
story and sentences that crackle and pop begging to be read aloud. Aria Aber’s splendid Good
Girl introduces just such a voice . . . Aber an award-winning poet strikes gold here much
like Kaveh Akbar did in last year’s acclaimed Martyr! "— Los Angeles Times In Berlin’s
artistic underground where techno and drugs fill warehouses still pockmarked from the wars of
the twentieth century nineteen-year-old Nila at last finds her tribe. Born in Germany to
Afghan parents raised in public housing graffitied with swastikas drawn to philosophy
photography and sex Nila has spent her adolescence disappointing her family while searching
for her voice as a young woman and artist. Then in the haze of Berlin’s legendary nightlife
Nila meets Marlowe an American writer whose fading literary celebrity opens her eyes to a life
of personal and artistic freedom. But as Nila finds herself pulled further into Marlowe’s
controlling orbit ugly barely submerged racial tensions begin to roil Germany—and Nila’s
family and community. After a year of running from her future Nila stops to ask herself the
most important question: Who does she want to be? A story of love and family raves and Kafka
staying up all night and surviving the mistakes of youth Good Girl is the virtuosic debut
novel by a celebrated young poet and now a major new voice in fiction.
