Laila Lalami is the author of three successful novels including The Moor's Account, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and won the American Book Award. She has written for publications including the Guardian and the New York Times, and is the recipient of a British Council Fellowship, a Fulbright Fellowship and a Guggenheim Fellowship. She lives in Los Angeles.

@LailaLalami

FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD 2019

'A provocative and gripping novel by a gifted writer' JOHN BOYNE

'Remarkable, timely ... Impeccably written' ROXANE GAY

'A deftly constructed account of a crime and its consequences' J.M. COETZEE

'A writer of uncommon conviction and tremendous insight' VIET THANH NGUYEN

There wasn't anything I could do. All I saw was a man falling to the ground.

Late one spring night, Driss Guerraoui, a Moroccan immigrant in California, is walking across a darkened intersection when he is killed by a speeding car. The repercussions of his death bring together a diverse cast of characters: Guerraoui's daughter Nora, a jazz composer who returns to the small town in the Mojave she thought she'd left for good; his widow Maryam, who still pines after her life in the old country; Efraín, an undocumented witness whose fear of deportation prevents him from coming forward; Jeremy, a former classmate of Nora's and now a veteran of the Iraq war; Coleman, a detective who is slowly discovering her son's secrets; Anderson, a neighbor trying to reconnect with his family; and Driss himself.

As the characters - deeply divided by race, religion and class - tell their stories in The Other Americans, Driss's family is forced to confront its secrets, a town faces its hypocrisies and love, in all its messy and unpredictable forms, is born.

This deftly constructed account of a crime and its consequences shows up, in its quiet way, the pressures under which ordinary Americans have labored since the events of 9/11

The Other Americans is one of the most affecting novels I have read about race and immigration post 9/11. It's a novel that reaches beyond its immediate setting to illuminate more universal themes of loss, alienation and betrayal. Subtle, wise and full of humanity, The Other Americans deserves a wide audience

A family saga with the suspense of a mystery and, finally, the satisfying resolution of a thriller

A rich and mysterious family saga by a Pulitzer Prize-nominated author who always delivers magnificent prose. This story about the death of a Moroccan immigrant explodes into a compelling tale of love, family, race and heartache. Absolutely wonderful

A powerful novel of intolerance and compassion, resilience and weakness, love and loss, populated by flawed but sympathetic characters whose lives are rocked by actions and emotions beyond their control

Rich, polyphonic ... Accumulates a kind of revelatory power, setting aside top-down commentary in favour of side-by-side juxtaposition, a narrative style that ultimately functions as a plea for more listening

A moving and exceptionally rich portrait of a modern American community, one that is much more far-reaching than just a saga of immigration

Confirms Lalami's reputation as one of the most sensitive interrogators, probing at the faultlines in family and the wider world

In gentle and stylish prose, Lalami gives us a picture of life as a Muslim immigrant in the USA, a glimpse of the trauma suffered by veterans of war in the Middle East and an account of family stresses familiar in all cultures and countries. It is a most impressive novel

A wonderfully constructed novel, like a musical piece made up of many voices

A provocative and gripping novel by a gifted writer

A writer of uncommon conviction and tremendous insight

I'm going to make a prediction, which is dangerous I know, but nonetheless. I predict The Other Americans is going to create a literary storm. Near enough to faultless, this book is a poignant exploration of grief, love, racism and jealousy that will undoubtedly rank as one of the best books of 2019

Lalami packs sibling rivalry, a crime investigation, a love story and family secrets into her propulsive plotline . A masterful and intimate polyphonic narrative

A strong successor to her Pulitzer-nominated The Moor's Account, The Other Americans is a study of race in the wake of the War on Terror intertwined deftly with a love story and the dissection of a family dynamic, in which every character, like the young Moroccan acrobats, contributes an essential part of the whole

This may be even better than The Moor's Account . The Other Americans is a combination mystery, love story and literary exploration of immigrants in America

Lalami is in thrilling command of her narrative gifts, reminding readers why The Moor's Account was a Pulitzer finalist . Lalami expertly mines an American penchant for rendering the 'other'

Unforgettable

Tremendous and powerful, The Moor's Account is one of the finest historical novels I've encountered in a while. It rings with thunder!

A story with extraordinary power. The Moor's Account is more than a good story, it's a great one: rich, vivid and gripping; a thoughtful investigation into how we frame the narratives of our own lives

Lalami has once again shown why she is one of her generation's most gifted writers

Lalami has built a remarkable novel

An exciting tale of wild hopes, divided loyalties and highly precarious fortunes

Brilliantly imagined