''The Other Americans'' is a

mystery novel Mystery is a fiction genre where the nature of an event, usually a murder or other crime, remains mysterious until the end of the story. Often within a closed circle of suspects, each suspect is usually provided with a credible motive and a reas ...

written by

Moroccan American Moroccan Americans are Americans of Moroccan ancestry. This includes people who have dual Moroccan and United States citizenship. History of immigration Moroccan presence in the United States was rare until the mid-twentieth century. The fir ...

novelist

Laila Lalami Laila Lalami ( ar, ليلى العلمي, born 1968) is a Moroccan-American novelist, essayist, and professor. After earning her ''Licence de lettres'' degree in Morocco, she received a fellowship to study in the United Kingdom (UK), where she e ...

. The novel was published in 2019 by

Pantheon Books Pantheon Books is an American book publishing imprint with editorial independence. It is part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.Random House, Inc. Datamonitor Company Profiles Authority: Retrieved 6/20/2007, from EBSCO Host Business Source ...

, an imprint of

Penguin Random House Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, from the merger of Penguin Group and Random House. On April 2, 2020, Bertels ...

Plot

The book begins with the suspicious death of Moroccan immigrant, Driss Guerraoui, in a hit-and-run accident in a small town in California, and is told from the perspectives of nine different characters who are connected to him.

Reception

The novel was positively received by critics. In 2019, ''The Other Americans'' was a finalist for

National Book Award for Fiction The National Book Award for Fiction is one of five annual National Book Awards, which recognize outstanding literary work by United States citizens. Since 1987 the awards have been administered and presented by the National Book Foundation, but ...

and the

Kirkus Prize The Kirkus Prize is an American literary award conferred by the book review magazine ''Kirkus Reviews''. Established in 2014, the Kirkus Prize bestows annually. Three authors are awarded each, divided into three categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, ...

. It won the Joyce Carol Oates Prize, and in 2020, it won the

Arab American Book Award The Arab American Book Award, established in 2006, is an annual literary award to celebrate and support the research of, and the written work of, Arab Americans and their culture. The Arab American Book Award encourages the publication and excelle ...

for Fiction. The novel also made the longlist for the

Aspen Words Literary Prize The Aspen Words Literary Prize, established in 2018, is an annual literary award presented by Aspen Words, a literary center in Aspen, Colorado Aspen is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Pit ...

References

2019 American novels Novels by Laila Lalami Novels set in deserts Arab-American novels Pantheon Books books {{Mystery-novel-stub