The Other Americans: A Novel

A daughter seeking to live her own life on her own terms, a dutiful daughter her mother compares her to, a beloved father who is killed in a hit-and-run accident one night, a man who may or may have not seen that hit-and-run but who is afraid of the police, a deputy who remembers that first daughter as his beautiful and kind high school classmate, and his war buddy who is struggling with his return to civilian life -- all of these characters are Americans, those who are us and not us, brought to vivid life in Laila Lamani's latest novel, The Other Americans.Lamani, a Pulitzer Prize finalist with her prior novel, The Moor's Account, slowly introduces each character in short chapters that are told from their points of view. Regardless of background or any other identifier, each character is fully realized and speaks for himself or herself. Their voices are grounded in how they see themselves and how the world sees them.Nora is the daughter seeking to live her own life. She is a musician, a composer studying at university with a life not connected to that of her family. Her parents and older sister fled Morocco before she was born in America. Her father, Driss, has owned and run a diner in their small California town for years. One night, he is hit while riding a bicycle, coming home. The vehicle never stopped. Nora feels a great deal of guilt for not being there, and hurries back.As the family's story, and the stories of each member, unfolds, others connected to the family, the diner and the accident also are revealed. Efrain isn't sure how much of the accident he saw and doesn't want to talk to the police. He is undocumented and has a family. His wife believes it is his duty to report what he knows, because it is the right thing to do.The cranky bowling alley owner, Anderson Baker, whose business is next to the diner, didn't see anything. The long years he has put in at his alley are showing. Newly arrived Detective Erica Coleman is frustrated by the lack of information as much as she is by the barriers she sees to her son making friends and fitting in. Jeremy, the deputy, remembers Nora's kindnesses to him when they were classmates and stops by the family home to offer his condolences.The structure has a Rashomon feel. As the various portions of each character's stories show events in different lights, revealing a greater understanding of them and of what happened the night Driss died and what led to that point. Not everything that happens to these characters is by chance, but everything that follows is determined by how they feel.It is in the nuances of these feelings and reactions that the beauty of the novel lives. When Nora learns of her father's death, she thinks:I could have talked to him one more time, heard the care in his voice, and yet I had squandered the chance. And all for some bitter coffee in a paper cup, hastily consumed before confronting a class of bored prep-school kids making their way through The Odyssey.Or Efrain, as he tries to remember exactly what he heard and saw on the night of the hit-and-run:Perhaps memory is not merely the preservation of a moment in the mind, but the process of repeatedly returning to it, carefully breaking it up in parts and assembling them again until we can make sense of what we remember.Or Nora's mother, Maryam, the woman who relies on her faith in matters great and small, praying for her daughter:... I murmured a prayer for her, as I had so many times in the past, only this time I prayed for more than her health, more than her safety, more than her happiness. I prayed for her greedily, for the thing I had given up years ago and never found again. Home.And, Nora again, on this novel's foundation, love, especially within a family:Only now, after my father's death, did I come to understand that love was not a tame or passive creature, but a rebellious beast, messy and unpredictable, capacious and forgiving ...Just as in Lamani's earlier works, the personal becomes the universal. We are the the others to those who are the others to us. When looking at other Americans, what is being reflected back matters as much as the original. Everyone is part of a family, and these ties that bind can be restricting, empowering and supportive, or some of each.

Enjoyed this murder mystery. Real people, real problems, interesting twists. Well written, each chapter from a different person's perspective... read cover to cover and t g en went back and read by person. Great book club choice but don't read the book club guide until you've read the book as it's a spoiler

A variety of first person narrators, including a dead man, tie this novel together in an intimate way. These narrators are all very candid, but, particularly in one case, the author cleverly chooses that narrator’s words in order to mislead the reader. The most prominent character is Nora, a musician who returns home to the Mohave Desert after her father dies in a hit-and-run that may or may not have been an accident. Nora feels certain that her father, a successful business owner, was murdered, given that he was Moroccan and his donut shop was torched after 9/11. Even after the alleged driver confesses, his intent remains murky, and proving vehicular homicide is problematic. An undocumented man actually witnessed the accident but is fearful about coming forward and exposing his immigration status. Nora’s family, however, remains the focal point, as surprising secrets about Nora’s father and sister surface but are not always shared with those who might benefit from such information. The chinks in the armor of these two characters lend suspense to the storyline, as does at least one character with anger management issues. I would have liked a chapter from Beatrice, a mysterious character that remains mysterious, and perhaps she remains in the shadows to retain that elusiveness. Nora, puzzling over an unexpected inheritance from her father, strikes up a relationship with Jeremy, a cop who seems to be a bad fit for her but who ultimately helps her find her way through her grief. This pair is the heart and soul of this novel, and I so wanted them to find a path to a future together.

There is always another side of the story.Author Laila Lalami has taken this adage to heart in this searing and ingenious tale about the death of Driss Guerraoui, a Moroccan immigrant living in the small town of Mojave, California with this wife, Maryam. The couple have two grown daughters, Salma, a dentist who is married with two children, and Nora, a talented composer and musician. Driss, a Muslim who fully embraces the American dream despite the resentment and hatred so many have felt for him since 9/11, owns a modestly successful diner. One night after staying late at the restaurant he is run over and killed in a hit-and-run crash. Was it an accident…or murder?The book is composed of dozens of short chapters, each told in the first person by someone connected to the case, including Maryam, Salma, and Nora, as well the African-American police detective, a white high school friend of Nora's who has recently returned from fighting in the war in Iraq and has fallen in love with Nora, the elderly white man who owns the bowling alley next door to Driss's diner, the bowling alley owner's grown son, and an illegal and terrified Latino immigrant who witnessed the hit-and-run.This is the genius of the book: Even with so many diverse characters, each one is easy to remember and fully embrace, making the narrative arc—as told through so many varying points of view—riveting and absolutely brilliant.This is so much more than a whodunit story. This is a story about people—be it people who are Muslim, Catholic, white, black, rich, or poor and the things they do to one another out of fear and distrust for "the other." This is a story about people—and the secrets they keep and the secrets that destroy. This is a story about people—be it people who are grieving, angry, happy, hopeful, resentful, or hurting with emotions that are often raw and always real.This is a story about humanity. It is not about "the others" but rather about all of us.After all, there is always another side of the story.

It's not easy to write about ordinary people in a way that is gripping and entertaining and still plausible. Not every author can do it. Laila Lalami proves that she is one who can with this touching and well paced story of people in a desert town in the USA. The story opens with the death of Driss Guerraoui, a Moroccan-American killed in a hit and run outside his restaurant. It follows a host of characters touched by his death - his family, the police investigating his death, the neighbouring business owners, and the man who witnessed the accident but is afraid to come forwards.Whilst the death and the investigation into it act as a frame for the story, driving along the plot, bringing structure and a reason for the story to be told, there is much more to be found here. Narrated in short chapters by the various viewpoint characters, we learn their backstories and their current life situations. We get a good variety of different people, almost all of whom are likeable and sympathetic. It's one of those books that reminds you there are many good people in the world, along with a few bad guys.Immigration and racism are of topics, but these are not the only focus of the story. There's an interesting subplot about an Iraq war veteran trying to deal with his anger issues, a rather sweet love story between two former school friends, a mother's worries about her son fitting in after moving from the big city, and the difficult but well intentioned relationship between Driss' daughter Nora and her mother. Lots of ordinary situations that millions of ordinary people face, written about in a way that makes them fascinating and insightful. This mixture of different subplots and themes keeps the book fresh and varied whilst still being a believable story.It's only when considering it to write this review that I can really appreciate just how skilful this book is - Lalami makes it seem effortless. It's unshowy and unpretentious. But start to think about why it works so well and you begin to appreciate her skill in weaving together these multiple threads, in handling such a range of different voices with authenticity, managing the pacing in a way that keeps it gripping, and how she uses the accident and its aftermath to give structure to a book that's character driven.Lalami is a really talented writer and I hope we'll get many more novels from her. If you haven't tried her other novels, do seek them out - she has a diverse range of topics and settings and they are all really well done.

A good read

Really enjoyed reading this book, excellent balance of mystery, romance and insight into how family adjusts to life in America

Given all the attention paid to immigration in the USA this book portrays new immigrants and or their families in a positive way and the story in interesting and believable. A very very good read.

very good qualityfast delivery