Folger Book Club
‘You Dreamed of Empires’ by Álvaro Enrigue
The book club explores the 1519 meeting between Cortés and Moctezuma, presenting a hallucinatory, revelatory colonial revenge story.
Booking and details
Coming SoonDates Thu, Nov 6, 2025, 6:30pm
Venue Virtual - on Zoom
Tickets Free, Registration required
Duration 6:30pm - 8:00pm (ET)
Registration for this session opens Tuesday, October 14 at 4pm, with early access for members beginning at 10am.
Our pick for the November book club is You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue.
About the book
From the visionary author of Sudden Death, a hallucinatory, revelatory colonial revenge story.
One morning in 1519, conquistador Hernán Cortés enters the city of Tenochtitlan – today’s Mexico City. Later that day, he will meet the emperor Moctezuma in a collision of two worlds, two empires, two languages, two possible futures.
Cortés is accompanied by his captains, his troops, his prized horses, and his two translators: Friar Aguilar, a taciturn friar, and Malinalli, an enslaved, strategic Nahua princess. After nearly bungling their entrance to the city, the Spaniards are greeted at a ceremonial welcome meal by the steely Aztec princess Atotoxtli, sister and wife of Moctezuma. As they await their meeting with the emperor – who is at a political and spiritual crossroads, and relies on hallucinogens to get by – Cortés and his entourage are ensconced in the labyrinthine palace. Soon, one of Cortés’s captains, Jazmín Caldera, overwhelmed by the grandeur of the place, begins to question the ease with which they were welcomed into the city, and wonders at the chances of getting out alive, much less conquering the empire. And what if… they don’t?
You Dreamed of Empires brings Tenochtitlan to life at its height, and reimagines its destiny. The incomparably original Álvaro Enrigue sets afire the moment of conquest and turns it into a moment of revolution, a restitutive, fantastical counterattack, in a novel so electric and so unique that it feels like a dream.
Why did we choose this?
The Folger Shakespeare Library’s collection explores not only Shakespeare’s life and works, but also the plays’ historical context, source material, critical and performance histories, and the ways in which they inspire and are adapted by contemporary novelists.
Folger Book Club’s first translated novel, You Dreamed of Empires is a new perspective on the Spanish conquistadors’ arrival in what is now Mexico City. Predating Shakespeare by half a century, this early colonization nonetheless played a major part in Europe’s exploration and exploitation of the Americas and was still very much part of the cultural fabric against which Shakespeare and his Spanish contemporaries from Miguel Cervantes to Lope de Vega wrote their plays.
About the Book Club
Our informal Book Club is free and open to all. Our picks range from historical fiction to adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays, encompassing a wide variety of genres.
Each session begins with a guest speaker exploring that month’s pick and highlighting items from the Folger collection related to the novel. After the short presentation, participants will be broken into smaller groups for breakout discussions, moderated by a team of staff and volunteers.
Content transparency
You Dreamed of Empires includes potentially sensitive subjects. Expand below for a full list of content (includes spoilers).
- Violence
- Rape
- Colonization
- Murder
- Sexual assault
- Drug use
- Vomit
- Cannibalism
- War
Guest speaker
Announcement forthcoming
Buy the book
Support the Folger Shop with your book purchase.
Fall Folger Book Club selections are now available online and in-person through the Folger Shop!
Click below to purchase your copy of You Dreamed of Empires online or come visit us at 201 East Capitol St SE during our opening hours. Hours and directions
You can also choose to support your favorite local bookstore through Bookshop.org or Libro.fm.
We would like to thank the following organization for its generous support of this program
