The Dream Hotel (A Read with Jenna Pick) by Laila Lalami

A Read with Jenna Pick that will transport you to the sun-drenched streets of Morocco, where ambition, identity, and the weight of home collide in stunning prose.

Laila Lalami, Pulitzer Prize finalist and one of our most vital contemporary voices, returns with The Dream Hotel—a luminous exploration of what it means to leave home, and what it costs to return. Set against the vivid backdrop of Casablanca, this novel follows a filmmaker who comes back to Morocco after years abroad, only to find that the country—and she herself—have changed in ways both subtle and profound.

What makes this story sing is Lalami’s ability to capture the ache of displacement, the pull of nostalgia, and the complicated beauty of belonging to two worlds at once. Her characters feel like people you’ve known, and her settings are so richly drawn you can almost taste the mint tea and feel the Mediterranean breeze.

This is a book for anyone who has ever felt caught between places, between versions of themselves. It’s perfect for:

• Readers who loved The Moor’s Account and Lalami’s previous work
• Book clubs seeking nuanced, conversation-starting fiction
• Anyone drawn to stories about immigration, art, and self-discovery

Jenna Bush Hager chose this one for good reason—it’s the kind of novel that lingers long after you’ve turned the final page, like the echo of a dream you can’t quite shake.

Come browse our shelves and discover why this Read with Jenna selection is making waves.