Virago pre-empts Patmeena Sabit’s ‘arresting’ debut novel

Virago has pre-empted rights to Patmeena Sabit’s “arresting” debut novel, Good People, to publish in spring 2026. 

Publishing director Carla Josephson acquired UK and Commonwealth rights in 24 hours from Rachel Berkowitz, rights director for Crown/PRH US, after Amy Einhorn, senior vice-president and publisher at Crown, similarly pre-empted world rights from Sharon Pelletier at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. Virago will publish in hardback in spring 2026, as its lead debut for the imprint.

The synopsis reads: “Good People opens with the Sharaf’s idolised teenage daughter discovered dead in a car at the bottom of a canal. Her family is shattered – and as the investigation unfolds, the illusion of their perfect teenage daughter is shattered as well. In the eyes of her Afghan-American community, she was a rebel who had disgraced her family by running away with a boy. According to her friends, she was a young woman torn between her ultra-conservative community and her desire to live on her own terms. Soon everyone who hears about the case has their own certainty as to whether her death was a terrible accident – or whether the Sharafs are guilty of an honour crime against their own daughter.

“Told through the voices surrounding the Sharafs, Good People traces the immigrant family’s rags-to-riches rise; moves through the year leading up to this tragedy; and explores the aftermath as the twin forces of the police investigation and the court of public opinion draw battle lines between those who knew the Sharafs and those who think they know them.”

Josephson said: “I read Good People with my heart in my mouth, unable to put it down until I reached the end. It is the most riveting, arresting and impactful debut I’ve read in a very long time – the perfect combination of a compelling character-led story, a narrative that keeps undermining what you think you know and a rip-roaring pace! The way that Patmeena juggles all of this so lightly, while engaging the reader in a thought-provoking conversation about family, culture, race, gender, the immigrant experience and Islamophobia is truly phenomenal, and I am beyond thrilled that Virago will be publishing Good People in 2026.”

Sabit said: I’m delighted that Good People will be published by Virago in the UK. I couldn’t have asked for a better champion of this book than Carla and am grateful for the opportunity of working with her and the team at Virago.”