Good People

by: Patmeena Sabit

Goodreads Synopsis:

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. Successful, 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 and the family is thrust into the court of public opinion. 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. Told through a kaleidoscope of perspectives, it is a riveting, provocative, and haunting story of family—sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, and the communities that claim us as family in difficult times.

Helen says: 🤓🤓🤓🤓

This was hands down my favorite book this month! Warning though…this book is depressing. Were you a fan of the cult podcast Serial??? Specifically Season 1…You will love this story then. It was told from many perspectives and it really had some unreliable narrators for sure. This book keeps you wondering what really happened.

Holly says: 🤓🤓🤓🤓

This was definitely my favorite book of the month. I agree with Helen, the book is depressing, but the story is totally compelling, and I love the way it was written, basically in multiple perspectives of associated family, friends, acquaintances and journalists. Each person has his or her own viewpoint, opinions, and cultural positioning. The situation it is based on is extremely sad and is a lesson on merging the customs and culture of one society into the ways of another. How difficult it would be to raise children in a culture very different from the one in which you yourself were raised, yet still be surrounded by people from your own country, who judge, and judge they do, in the ways of the old culture as you are surrounded by the new culture. In this case, the result is tragic. Beautifully written…

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