Laila Lalami’s Dream Hotel is a disturbing, yet engaging read in a not-too-distant time that incorporates such recent events as Covid and the southern California wildfires.
When Sara is detained at Los Angeles International Airport upon her return from a business trip; she’s understandably snippy. She knows her husband is circling the airport, with the couple’s twins in tow, ready to pick her up. Instead, she’s taken to a “retention” center because she may be a danger to others.
That determination is based on a score that measures behaviors and dreams. The facility is Madison, an old, converted elementary school, which authorities repeatedly affirm is not a prison. Sarah and the many confined women think otherwise. They, like Sara, are desperate to prove they are being wrongly held. Their access to the rest of the world, primarily their families and friends, is restricted. And, the detainees have all been implanted with a device that records their dreams.
The living conditions are substandard and the guards, known as attendants, ensure that everyone follows the strict and ever-changing rules. When anyone strays from the prescribed norm, additional time is added to their sentence, er, stay. Sara was initially told she’d be at Madison for three weeks. For minor infractions, some of which are never explained, Sara has been there for months.
As Sara struggles to maintain her sanity and get back to her old way of life, she considers her past and the future in a world where thoughts and dreams are surveilled.
Dream Hotel
Three-and-a-half Bookmarks
Pantheon Books, 2025
336 pages
The Blue Page Special 