The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami

* LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2025 *
* A READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK MARCH 2025 *

Sara is at the airport, travelling home from a work conference. Out of nowhere she's pulled aside by agents from the Risk Assessment Administration. Their algorithm has determined that she's an immediate threat to her husband, and must be kept under observation at a retention centre for twenty-one days.

The evidence? Data collected from her dreams.

When she arrives at the centre, she discovers that each deviation from their strict and ever-changing rules - loitering in the hallway, a 'non-compliant hairstyle' - results in her stay being extended. Desperate to return to her family, Sara must make a choice. Does she play by their rules, or risk taking matters into her own hands?