Good Girl – Aria Aber

READ FOR WOMEN’S PRIZE

A coming of age about Nila, a girl born in Berlin to Afghan immigrants. For Nila there is a constant negotiation between her inherited grief and her desire to belong in a culture that doesn’t reflect her. As a result she discovers underground clubs, sex, drugs, philosophy and literature, and finds herself attached to a demanding older American boyfriend.

Growing up meant learning how to love my parents in a language they didn’t understand, and forgiving them in one I barely spoke.

SUZY
● I was a bit dubious of Good Girl at first. It was such a jolt from the exuberant Fundamentally and I wondered whether the cool girl main character would ever let the reader in or would we be held at arm’s length as she wandered from one Berlin nightclub to another. 

As I gently moved more deeply into her world, I felt such compassion for Nila and as the novel came to completion I felt like I was some kind of concerned aunty wishing her nothing but joy, peace and safety. 

RACHEL
● I’ve always been drawn to books that balance hardship with the transformative power of art. Good Girl is the epitome of this, with the author giving Nila the attributes of artful contemplation and quiet rebellion, in an intelligent, emotionally grounded voice.

Some scenes were hard to read, the clubs, drugs, sex, and seductive chaos of Marlowe, because it was so apparent why Nila was chasing those quick highs. Sometimes I wanted to jump into the book and drag her out of the wreckage. But Aber constructed her protagonist so well I had to trust her and accept it would be both painful and gratifying to watch Nila grow up and find her own way out of the mayhem. – Rachel

Published 2025
Hogarth
368 pages