The Dream Hotel

Synopsis

When Sara returns home from a conference abroad, she is detained at the airport and informed that an algorithm has predicted she will soon commit a violent crime against the person she loves most. Based on data collected from her dreams, the government places her in a retention facility with other women accused of crimes they have not yet committed. As the days stretch into months under an ever-changing system of surveillance and control, Sara begins to question the technology, institutions, and assumptions that have stripped away her freedom.

Part psychological thriller and part speculative fiction, The Dream Hotel explores the consequences of predictive algorithms, mass surveillance, and the erosion of privacy. Tense, intelligent, and deeply humane, Laila Lalami's novel asks what remains of free will when even our dreams are no longer our own.

About the Author

Laila Lalami is the author of The Moor's Account, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and The Other Americans, a finalist for the National Book Award. Her work has received numerous honours for its exploration of identity, migration, justice, and power. The Dream Hotel continues her acclaimed examination of the forces that shape contemporary life.

Publisher
Pantheon

Publication Date
March 4, 2025

Format
Hardcover

Pages
336

Subjects
Literary Fiction · Speculative Fiction · Dystopian Fiction · Contemporary Fiction

ISBN
9780593317600