Good Deed

Helen Benedict, a professor at Columbia University and the author of 14 books, has been writing about refugees and war for many years, both in her nonfiction, Map of Hope & Sorrow: Stories of Refugees Trapped in Greece, published in 2022, and her three most recent novels, The Good Deed, Wolf Season and Sand Queen. A recipient of the 2021 PEN Jean Stein Grant for Literary Oral History, the Ida B. Wells Award for Bravery in Journalism, and the James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism for her exposure of sexual predation in the military, Benedict is also the author of The Lonely Soldier: The Private War of Women Serving in Iraq. Her writings inspired a class action suit against the Pentagon on behalf of those sexually assaulted in the military and the 2012 Oscar-nominated documentary, The Invisible War.

Featured in the Shelf Unbound list of 2024 Indie Summer Reads“Written with immense sensitivity and depth of knowledge, The Good Deed takes us to the heart of what it means to be a refugee, the devastation and loss, but also the strength and resilience. It brought tears to my eyes and hope to my heart.”—Christy Lefteri, author of Songbirds and The Beekeeper of Aleppo"The novel comes to an emotional conclusion, reminding us that hope is still to be found in the most desolate of places and prompting the reader to consider why and how we ask a person to prove their own humanity. An insightful reminder of our responsibilities to one another, more important now than ever."—Kirkus Reviews"Benedict’s haunting, timely novel traces the intense journeys of female refugees as their paths collide with a vacationing tourist... (This) true-to-life novel resonates, particularly in the characters’ moments of fortitude in the face of brutal experiences of heartbreak and loss."—Booklist“In The Good Deed, Helen Benedict offers a poignant, layered novel on displacement and belonging, love and betrayal, and the jagged space between altruism and egoism.”—Dalia Sofer, author of The Septembers of Shiraz and Man of My Time"Benedict revisits the terrain of her nonfiction title Map of Hope and Sorrow for a complex and heartbreaking story of Syrians living at a refugee camp on the Greek island of Samos...Each of the characters’ perspectives is nuanced and carefully wrought. Benedict has crafted an involving tale of a humanitarian crisis."—Publishers Weekly"Ultimately, The Good Deed is neither cynical nor depressing buthopeful. It’s about the triumph of the human spirit, about ordinary people who survive not because they’re superheroes but because they seize upon moments of good fortune, help each other, and refuse to give up."—Washington Independent Review of Books"Benedict’s harrowing narrative highlights the ways in which hope and homeare brutally wrenched from these refugees; the only profiteers are the people smugglers, who netted £183m out of misery last year alone." —Elizabeth Smith, Necessary Fiction