In Between Places: Ahead of the Women's Prize announcement, Afghan writer Aria Aber talks about her Berlin-set, shortlisted novel Good Girl
Power, desire and violence
In the novel, Nila meets Marlowe Woods, a charismatic 36-year-old American writer, in one of Berlin's bunkers. While their relationship begins flirtatiously, it veers into more complicated terrain. The age gap sets up the classic 'older man, young woman' dynamic, but Aber resists that binary. 'Nila is not just a victim. She has agency. She's being victimised, but she's also self-destructive and is actively seeking out extreme experiences.' Aber wanted readers to understand why Nila would fall into that kind of relationship. 'This isn't a cautionary tale — it serves a different literary purpose.'
Violence, especially the kind masked as discipline or care, runs quietly through the novel. Nila often revisits memories of her mother. She recalls times when she willingly offered her cheek in anticipation of a slap, or when a woman reminded her mother not to hit her in public — because they were in Germany now.
Aber explores how different forms of violence — domestic, erotic, state-sanctioned, — intersect and echo in characters' lives. 'There's an electric current of violence running from one system to another. It doesn't come from nowhere — it's triggered by something external that lives inside the perpetrator,' she says.
She asks: 'Why is domestic violence excused in some communities and not others? Often it comes from powerlessness, a way for those pushed to society's edges to assert control in the only space they can—their homes.' This is why she sets the family in Berlin's prefab housing blocks. 'These places are rife with crime, disenfranchisement, and a lack of opportunity. In those environments, interpersonal violence runs rampant — not because it's justified, but because the people living there are themselves being violated by the state, capitalism, and structural neglect,' says Aber.
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