Our Best Intentions

A Novel

By: Vibhuti Jain

Narrated by: Ulka Simone Mohanty

A Good Morning America Buzz Pick * NPR 1A Inaugural Book Club Pick * A 'Must-Read' by USA Today * Longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize * Booklist Editor's Choice * CrimeReads' Best of the Year

A suspenseful drama about an immigrant family caught in a criminal investigation, perfect for readers of Celeste Ng's Everything I Never Told You.

“Our Best Intentions is a thoughtful, gripping suspense that shakes up definitions of family and identity in a beautiful and refreshing way!” —Kal Penn, actor and national bestselling author

During summer break one day, Angie, the teenage daughter of Indian immigrant Babur Singh, is walking home after swimming at the high school pool when she finds Henry McCleary, a white classmate from a wealthy family, stabbed and bleeding on the football field. The police immediately focus their investigation on Chiara Thompkins, a runaway Black girl who disappears after the stabbing and—it’s later discovered—wasn’t properly enrolled in the public high school.

The incident sends shock waves through the community and reveals jarring truths about the lengths to which families will go to protect themselves. Alternating between multiple perspectives, Our Best Intentions is a gripping story about a father and daughter re-examining their familial bonds and place in the community that explores how easily friendships, careers, communities, and individual lives can unravel when the toxicity of privilege and racial bias are exposed.

Excellent!

Well written, realistic. Topic that needs exploring more by parents, communities, students and other stakeholders.

Remarkably good!

What a wonderful read. Great plot and well-developed characters that I felt affection for and others I wanted to slap. You will not be disappointed in this very good story and performance.

Thoughtful and entertaining

Lessons here as well as a sound, believable but original story. Characters were all well developed and the plot was finely crafted.

Riveting

What descriptive portrayal of the subtleties of our multifaceted culture as well as the difficulties of being a teenager in America. It is beautifully written. It is spellbinding.

Excellent story, characters and plot

This book was a deal of the day and I bought it on a whim. Didn’t expect it to be such a great novel. What a fabulous gem of a story! Engaging characters, a bit of humor, believable “incident.” I immediately looked for another book by this author after finishing this book. Nothing so far but can’t wait to read more novels by Jain.