Hisham Matar

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I Found Myself...The Last Dreams

My Friends

A Month in Siena

Anatomy of a Disappearance

In the Country of Men

The Return

Discover the Penguin books that shaped us

What a brilliant book. The Return reads as easily as a thriller, but is a story that will stick; a person is lost but gravity and resonance remain

A total work of art. It reminded me of Solzhenitsyn. It is of the same importance. I love it.

A profound and powerful meditation on love, loss and exile

Stands comparison with the best literature of exile

A tale of mighty love, loyalty and courage

A masterful memoir, a searing meditation on loss, exile, grief, guilt, belonging and, above all, family.

[A] profound work of witnessing and grief... leaves a deep emotional imprint

A moving, unflinching memoir of a family torn apart by the savage realities of today's middle east

I have always admired Matar's tender and compassionate but equally strong and compelling voice

Mr. Matar is not a wonderful writer because his father disappeared or because his homeland is a mess: he is a brilliant narrative architect and prose stylist, his pared-down approach and measured pace a striking complement to the emotional tumult of his material . . . This book is an extraordinary gift for us all

Breathtaking memoir... an elegy by a son who, through his eloquence, defies the men who wanted to erase his father and gifts him with a kind of immortality

The Return moved me to tears and taught me about love and home

A desolating and powerful account of his son's search for his father, in life and death

Is it a sign, or a consequence, of this dreadful year that the best books displayed stern lucidity in the face of darkness and death? Hisham Matar's search for his "disappeared" father in The Return (note how badly British politicians come out of it)

A masterpiece . . . Its concision and reserve only heighten the power of a gripping and agonising story

The Return is the self portrait of a haunting, a kind of political ghost story - made more unbearable by the beauty of its prose

The intelligence and grace of Matar's writing is fuelled by a fierce and valid rage

For Matar, hope depends on individuals and families standing by cherished values

Times Literary Supplement Books of the Year

A haunting and terrifying story, told with courage, anger, dignity and unswerving determination

Among the best of the year's writing... This book is his masterful ink-stained resistance

A beautifully-written memoir that skillfully balances a graceful guide through Libya's recent history with the author's dogged quest to find his father'

Fathers, Sons and the Land In Between

Hisham Matar was nineteen when his father was kidnapped and taken to prison in Libya. He would never see him again. Twenty-two years later, after the fall of Gaddafi, Hisham was finally able to return to his homeland for the first time. In this heart-breaking, illuminating memoir he describes his return to a country and a family he thought he would never see again. 
 
The Return is at once a universal and an intensely personal tale of loss. It is an exquisite meditation on history, politics and art. It's the story of what it is to be human.

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE IN BIOGRAPHY 
WINNER OF THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE 
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 
SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARD 
SHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FOR AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
WINNER OF THE SLIGHTLY FOXED BEST FIRST BIOGRAPHY PRIZE 
ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES' TOP 10 BOOKS OF 2016 
 
The Return is at once a universal and an intensely personal tale. It is an exquisite meditation on how history and politics can bear down on an individual life. And yet Hisham Matar's memoir isn't just about the burden of the past, but the consolation of love, literature and art. It is the story of what it is to be human. 
 
Hisham Matar was nineteen when his father was kidnapped and taken to prison in Libya. He would never see him again. Twenty-two years later, the fall of Gaddafi meant he was finally able to return to his homeland. In this moving memoir, the author takes us on an illuminating journey, both physical and psychological; a journey to find his father and rediscover his country. 
 
'A beautifully-written memoir that skillfully balances a graceful guide through Libya's recent history with the author's dogged quest to find his father' Barack Obama 
 
Hisham Matar's new novel My Friends is available now!

Hisham Matar was born in New York to Libyan parents, spent his childhood in Tripoli and Cairo and has lived most of his life in London. His memoir The Return received a Pulitzer Prize in 2017. He is also the author of In the Country of Men, shortlisted for the Booker Prize, Anatomy of a Disappearance and A Month in Siena. His most recent novel, My Friends, won the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction 2024, was longlisted for the Booker Prize, and nominated for the National Book Award. His work has been translated into over thirty languages.

The Return

Fathers, Sons and the Land In Between

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What a brilliant book. The Return reads as easily as a thriller, but is a story that will stick; a person is lost but gravity and resonance remain

It is likely to become a classic.

A total work of art. It reminded me of Solzhenitsyn. It is of the same importance. I love it.

Wise and agonizing and thrilling to read

Bristles with arresting wisdom

A treasure for the ages

Tremendously powerful

A magnificent memoir of exile and loss

One of the essential books of our times

A profound and powerful meditation on love, loss and exile

About Hisham Matar

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