Arlington resident Patricia McArdle won an Amazon.com competition to find “the next popular novel.”
McArdle is a retired American diplomat, and her novel “Farishta” won in the general fiction category. She was awarded a $15,000 prize and a book deal with Penguin Group.
The book’s title means “angel” in the Afghan Dari language, and McArdle’s novel tells the story of a female American diplomat who provides aid to a refugee woman fleeing violence in Northern Afghanistan.
Thousands of people participated in the Amazon.com contest by posting reviews and voting for their favorite new novels.
