SONIA FALEIRO
THE GOOD GIRLS: AN ORDINARY KILLING
Non-fiction, 2021
"A masterly and agenda-setting inquest into how the deaths of two teenage girls shone a light into the darkest corners of a nation."
The New York Times Editor's Choice
The Financial Times Best Books of the Week
Vogue's Most Anticipated Books of 2021
Marie Claire's 10 Best True Crime Books of 2021
Publishers Weekly's true crime to watch for in 2021
Cosmopolitan's books by POC authors to watch in 2021
Amazon's highly anticipated true crime books of 2021
Crime Reads' most anticipated crime books of 2021
Book Riot 20 Must Read Crime Novels
Electric Lit's New & Thrilling Books of the Year by the Indian Diaspora
REVIEWS
The New York Times: “The Good Girls is transfixing; it has the pacing and mood of a whodunit ... Faleiro has a talent for ramifying plots and slippery characters — for a narrative that resists easy formulation. We glide swiftly, smoothly, only to realize that we’re not approaching a clearing but being led into a darker, more tangled story." (Parul Sehgal)
The New York Times Book Review: "This story is at heart a Southern Gothic — a Southern Hemisphere Gothic — a tale of stymied sexuality and buried secrets. A puzzle with a surprise at the end. A riveting, terrible tale, one all too common, but Faleiro’s gorgeous prose makes it bearable."
Interview with Scott Simon, NPR Weekend Edition: "The Good Girls Aims To Uncover The Story Behind The Deaths Of Two Indian Girls."
The Washington Post: "A remarkable feat of reporting. What she finds reveals as much about the failings of India’s law enforcement, media and politics as it does about the girls’ deaths."
The Guardian: "A beautifully calibrated book, full of suspense to the final pages, urging us to walk into that night and listen."
The Economist: "A sobering portrait of a country where progress has been undermined by inequality, short-termist politics and Mr Modi’s divisive Hindu nationalism. It is a powerful indictment of a society failing its most vulnerable members.
The Financial Times: "A gripping real life mystery and compelling whodunnit taut with dramatic tension."
The Wall Street Journal: "The Good Girls” is a riveting—sometimes astonishing—work of forensic journalism."
The Sunday Times, UK: "The Good Girls is a haunting piece of narrative reporting that lingers in the mind long after the final page is turned. It is difficult to read but difficult to put down. To understand the challenges facing young women in India today, it is essential reading."
The Observer: "Sonia Faleiro’s meticulously researched investigation results in a powerful, unflinching account of misogyny, female shame and the notion of honour."
The New Statesman: "The pages of The Good Girls demand to be turned. ... Through the remarkable attention she pays to the case, Faleiro weaves an extraordinary tale out of this “ordinary killing”, insisting on the importance of the girls’ deaths – and the uniqueness of their lives."
The Spectator: "A Romeo and Juliet-like tragedy in Uttar Pradesh ... This compelling ‘whodunit’ is a desperate reflection on the status of women."
Times Literary Supplement: "The Good Girls is at once shocking and mundane, quiet and loud, understated and savage."
Literary Review: "The Good Girls is a compassionate, timely and necessary book that explores the issues of sex, violence, shame, honour and what it is to be a girl growing up in modern India."
Publisher's Weekly: "True crime buffs will be fascinated."
Kirkus: "A modern day Rashomon"
Grove Atlantic/Bloomsbury UK/Penguin Random House India/Penguin Random House Canada/Czarne/Neri Pozza Editore
Audiobook available from Penguin Random House Audio and Bloomsbury
At Bloomsbury, Hetty Touquet leads publicity for The Good Girls
For publicity queries in the US please email Justina Batchelor
BEAUTIFUL THING: INSIDE THE SECRET WORLD OF BOMBAY'S DANCE BARS
Non-fiction, 2010
“[An] intimate and valuable book of literary reportage that will break your heart several times over." The New York Times
Book of the Year: The Sunday Times, The Economist, CNN, The San Francisco Chronicle, Kirkus, The Observer, The Guardian, and NPR
Grove Atlantic/Canongate/Penguin India/Black Inc/Actes Sud/Lind & Co/Nieu Amsterdam
13 MEN
Non-fiction, Kindle Single, 2015
"A memorable portrait of a community in turmoil": The Guardian
Interview with NPR's All Things Considered
Interview with Columbia Journalism Review
Deca (English)/Actes Sud (French)
THE GIRL
Fiction, Penguin India, 2006
’In the tradition of Elizabeth Smart’s cult classic By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept, The Girl makes romantic suffering something of epic proportions."
India Today
'A classic. Beautiful lyricism, poetic passages and evocative descriptions of Goa.'
Deccan Herald
'A lyrical first novel rich with dark visual imagery.'
India Today
'The girl has wisdom, tenderness, and a sort of agelessness that sets it apart from contemporary fiction in India.'
Far Eastern Economic Review
