Laila Lalami on why her new novel needed 9 narrators

Laila Lalami’s new novel, The Other Americans, relies on nine different narrators to tell the story.

Lalami explained to NPR’s Lulu Garcia-Navarro that the variety of voices was necessary to fully depict what it’s like to be an immigrant in America, which itself is central to the novel’s plot.

She and Garcia-Navarro talk more about the book and the immigrant experience in an interview, which you can listen to below or read a transcript of on NPR’s website.

(Psst: If you liked what you heard or read, the Guardian also interviewed Lalami recently.