Fear and Loathing in Berlin

Much to the chagrin of her widowed father, Nila Haddadi is no good girl. The narrator in Aria Aber’s debut novel rebels in all the ways that a 19-year-old born to Afghan refugees in Berlin can: She is rarely home, skips class, takes drugs, has sex, dreams of becoming a photographer, and frequents a nightclub she calls the Bunker, a recognizable stand-in for Berghain. There, she meets Marlowe, a 36-year-old American novelist in his flop era with several red flags...