The unassuming title of Hisham Matar's third novel conceals a sophisticated work that skillfully explores themes of human connection, exile, and return. A finalist for the National Book Award, My Friends focuses on the relationship among three Libyan men whose lives intersect over more than three decades, from the mid-1980s through the aftermath of the 2011 revolution that deposed Muammar Qaddafi after 42 years.
Most of the novel is narrated by Khaled Abd al Hady, looking back on that time span as a middle-aged man in London, where he's lived since 1984, after leaving his native Benghazi to study English literature at the University of Edinburgh. He's inspired to pursue those studies by an enigmatic short story authored by Libyan writer Hosam Zowa. Khaled travels to London with his friend and fellow Libyan Mustafa al Touny to attend a demonstration sparked by the arrest of several students in their homeland. Matar (The Return) places his fictional pair at the scene of an actual protest that occurred on April 17, 1984, that resulted in the wounding of 11 demonstrators and the killing of an English police officer. That shattering event thrusts the two men into an enforced exile from their country of birth. Khaled builds a respectable life as a teacher in his adopted city. During a visit to Paris he meets his literary idol Hosam, and they form a strong friendship. When the revolt that eventually topples Qaddafi erupts in February 2011, Khaled, Mustafa, and Hosam must decide what they will risk to liberate their native land.
Readers who appreciate the fiction of writers with roots in the Arab world like Mohsin Hamid and Ayad Akhtar will find a similar affecting sensibility in Matar's work. --Harvey Freedenberg, freelance reviewer