SBC Reads: GOOD PEOPLE, February 2026
Drum roll, please… introducing our next SBC Reads pick for February: GOOD PEOPLE, by Patmeena Sabit!
GOOD PEOPLE is an electrifying mystery that brilliantly deconstructs the “model immigrant” myth through a he-said/she-said investigation of a suspicious death. The story unfolds through the voices of the community surrounding a grieving Afghan family struck by tragedy.
Given today’s political climate, the novel’s exploration of prejudice, truth, identity, and the crumbling façade of the American Dream feels incredibly urgent and essential. It’s a page-turner that forces you to question every perspective. Binge-worthy and unputdownable!
“Good People is a thrilling tour de force of a novel. I’ll be recommending this book to everyone.”—Ann Patchett
We’re not alone in our excitement for this release. Early praise is pouring in for this book and the buzz is only building. GOOD PEOPLE is an IndieNext Pick, a LibraryReads bonus pick, and a Book of the Month Club February selection. (P.S. If you’re not yet a BOTM member, join here to get your first book for $5)
Meet the author on tour!
Patmeena Sabit was born in Kabul a few years after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. When she was a month old, her family fled the conflict and became refugees in Pakistan, joining the millions of other Afghans that had sought refuge there. They later moved to the United States and she grew up in Virginia. Now based in Toronto, Sabit will be touring through five cities on the East Coast in February. Grab your tickets to meet the author at a bookstore near you!
- Feb 09 – Stamford, CT, Barnes & Noble, 6PM ET
- Feb 10 - Brooklyn, NY, Books Are Magic, 7PM, joined by Prachi Gupta
- Feb 11 - Cambridge, MA, Harvard Bookstore, 7PM, joined by Rishi Reddi
- Feb 12 – Lewes, DE, Browseabout Books x Lewes Public Library, 5PM
- Feb 13 - Washington, D.C., Politics & Prose, 7PM, joined by Donna Hemans
- Feb 25 - Substack Live with SBC cofounder, Guinevere de la Mare, 3PM ET
About the book
“Written with raw emotional insight, this page-turner is a fascinating, kaleidoscopic look at a grieving Afghan family caught between culture and country. 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. This is the Afghan novel I have been eagerly waiting for.”
—Khaled Hosseini
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 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.
Order the book on Bookshop.org
