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A review by mandirigma
The Other Americans by Laila Lalami
5.0
Wow. Wow wow wow. What a book.
The summary: A Moroccan business owner in the Southern California desert is killed in a hit and run accident by his restaurant late one night. The novel tells the story -- of his surviving family members, neighbors, the police, and a lone witness reluctant to come forward -- trying to get to the bottom of his death. The story is told masterfully in multiple points of view, and manages to weave together the political tensions of our time without being heavy handed.
This is going to sound bad, but as a testament to how well it was written, the book really triggered a lot of anxiety for me. The characters were diverse but each of them mapped to a person I knew in real life. The setting is also kind of local to me, and it felt very true to the area.
I don't know what else to say except this is one of the best books I've read so far this year.
The summary: A Moroccan business owner in the Southern California desert is killed in a hit and run accident by his restaurant late one night. The novel tells the story -- of his surviving family members, neighbors, the police, and a lone witness reluctant to come forward -- trying to get to the bottom of his death. The story is told masterfully in multiple points of view, and manages to weave together the political tensions of our time without being heavy handed.
This is going to sound bad, but as a testament to how well it was written, the book really triggered a lot of anxiety for me. The characters were diverse but each of them mapped to a person I knew in real life. The setting is also kind of local to me, and it felt very true to the area.
I don't know what else to say except this is one of the best books I've read so far this year.