Told from the perspective of Khaled, a young Libyan man, although tied together with the stories of others, Mustafa and Hosam, My Friends is a tender, lyrical, but deeply passionate tale of friendships forged in the wake of profound personal and political tragedy - it is at once an ambitious, epic tale of geography, history, and ideology, and a perfectly small one: it asks how we find ourselves far away from home, how we navigate great pain and still somehow, with the help of our allies, make it through the other side.

Matar's prose is not flashy, indulgent, or overly sentimental, and he is able to perfectly balance a mix between the emotional and analytic - Khaled is a well-rounded, complexly written character, and his actions throughout the novel are both understandable and, like that of real people, not without fault, and I felt strongly connected to his story. It is rare to read a portrait of male friendships which is so gentle and yet intricate, at times thorny, and as someone who is ashamed to have been so ignorant of the country's history prior to this, it was fascinating to learn more about Libyan culture and society.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin General for this e-ARC!

This is the story of three Libyan male friends and their life mostly after leaving the country the story is mainly told from the point of view of one of the three men and looks at how they meet and how their relationships develop over the years

The book starts extremely well, and had grabbed my attention quickly . The author’s own life and upbringing have lots of similarities to the narrator of the novel and this has resulted in a story that feels entirely true and almost autobiographical. In nature.The scene after the embassy protest had me in floods of tears I remember this happening, in 1984, particularly the death of the police woman Yvonne Fletcher

I was very quickly immersed in the story I had recently read a book about friendship in a group of British young man, and was struck by the similarity of some of the emotions in this novel, despite the fact, young people were mostly Libyan in this novel and British in the other. Personally, I enjoyed the earlier portions of the novel when the narrator was a teenager and young man more than the sections later on.

Whilst the majority of the book is written in the first person from the point of view of the main narrator, there are some towards the end that are written in the first person, but by one of the friends, this confused me a bit they were I think intended to be of an email, but it took me awhile to realise this.

The last third of the book did not live up to its promising start a huge period of time is covered when his friends are away fighting in the war, and this is really only touched superficially I felt somehow unsatisfied by this, I didn’t enjoy this part of the novel as much as the start. Likewise, I felt the ending was rushed and unsatisfactory.

The book is written in beautiful, melodic, flowing language and was enjoyable,read

I loved the fact that the love of books themselves is frequently mentioned during the story. I enjoyed the quote, “I wanted instead to be in the silent activity of a good book to observe and feel it” This was a good book, and I enjoyed the silent activity of reading it.

I read an any copy of the novel on NetGalley, UKUK, the book is published in the UK on the 11th of January 2024 by penguin general, UK – fig tree

This review will appear on NetGalley, UK, Goodreads and my book, blog bio, et cetera books.wordpress.com. After publication it will also appear an Amazon UK.

This narrative unfolds around the lives of two Libyan men, Khaled and Mustafa, who forge a connection at the age of 18 while studying at Edinburgh University—an esteemed opportunity for their families. The story intricately explores the experiences of these men, their families, and the tumultuous events transpiring in their home country.

Khaled, cautioned by his father, opts to forge an independent path, avoiding involvement with groups reporting back to Libya. However, Mustafa, impassioned by his convictions against the regime, persuades Khaled to join him in traveling to London for a demonstration. The protest takes a tragic turn as both men and fellow demonstrators are shot, leading to a complex situation. Branded as traitors by their university peers, they feel stranded, unable to return to Libya or resume their studies.

Mustafa eventually returns to Libya to contribute to changing the political landscape, while Khaled remains in London, becoming a teacher. The story unfolds across the years, portraying the challenges and consequences faced by these characters. While the narrative presents a compelling exploration of trauma and personal struggles, some readers may find certain sections lengthy and challenging. It's a poignant reminder of the difficulties of empathising with individuals traumatised by their own country's circumstances.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

A story of the intertwining of two Libyan men who met when they were 18, Khaled and Mustafa. They met while at Edinburgh University which was an honour for the families to have their sons studying abroad. The story revolves around these men, their families and the terrible things in their own country. Khaled is warned by his father not to become too involved in any group who are reporting back to Libya and to furrow his own path which he does. Mustafa feels strongly about the regime in their country and they decide, Khaled with persuasion, to travel to London to demonstrate. This does not go well and some demonstrators are shot including the two of them. One of the police is shot dead and they now are in a mess. Students at the university broadcast they are traitors and because of this they feel they cannot return to Libya or indeed back to University. Eventually Mustafa does return to Libya to help try and change the political situation but Khaled stays in London and teaches at a local school. The story continues through the years but I found it quite difficult to read in some ways. Possibly too longwinded in parts. It is difficult to put yourself in the shoes of others especially ones traumatized by their own country. It was a little too slow for me as a novel and I did lose concentration a little. On saying this it is a must read book to show us how lucky we are in life

Many people will know of the Libyan Embassy siege which took place in 1984 London, where peaceful protestors were gunned down from the Embassy building resulting in the death of a police officer. Matar's latest novel is told from the perspective of Khaled, a literature student at Edinburgh who attends the protest with his friend Mustafa. Both young men are seriously injured, but perhaps worse still, they are unable to return home or to tell the truth to their families. Khaled and Mustafa build new lives in the UK and befriend Hosam, an author. When the Arab Spring begins in 2011, the three friends must decide if they want to return and fight.

Khaled is a sympathetic character and there are plenty of interesting supporting characters too. Matar has a nice, easy to read style, and the story flows well. I liked the focus on friendship rather than romantic relationships - there aren't enough books about the former and too many about the latter.

Plot wise it isn't the most exciting - I kept waiting for something more defining and dramatic to happen. But other than the Libyan Embassy shooting, which happens quite early on, there isn't really anything else thrilling or mysterious. It is a nicely constructed story about a character I liked, and it was pleasant enough reading it, but it lacked a strong 'hook' to pull the reader deeper into the narrative and emotionally engage them.

If you are interested in Libya or North Africa more broadly and want to read fiction with that theme, it's certainly worth reading. It's probably not one for thriller fans, as it's not a plot driven book. If you like character driven stories then again it's worth a read.

🇱🇾 REVIEW 🇱🇾

My Friends by Hisham Matar
Publishing Date: 11th January 2024
Thank you @penguinukbooks and @netgalley for the e-ARC

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

📝 - Khaled has grown up in Benghazi with a loving Libyan family, but upon hearing a short story read over a news broadcast, all he wants to do is study literature. He finds himself at Edinburgh University, making a few close friends, as protests against Qaddafi’s dictatorship increase. After stories of journalists and outspoken poets and literary figures being kidnapped by the Libyan government, even Khaled’s relationship with his family back in Benghazi becomes strained. We follow Khaled, Mustafa, and later, the writer of the short story that affected Khaled’s life so deeply as their lives intertwine and the situation in Libya develops.

💭 - This was a truly brilliant story, and one I recommend everyone to pick up in the new year. Despite being a work of fiction, it reads like an autobiography, with all the emotion so raw and obvious, enhanced by the first person narration. The characters are complex, flawed, but beautiful and the relationships between them so realistic. Tender friendships, arguments, grief, isolation all connecting into such a deep network. I also felt like I learnt so much from this book, things that I’m surprised I had never heard about before.

If you’re someone who enjoys stories from different and underrepresented cultures, and the possibility to learn something new as you read, I highly recommend this one.

This is too political and intense for me. At this particular time I want to be reading something a little more heartwarming. I could not get into it.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Hisham Matar has written my book of the year, an authentic meditation and exploration of identity, trauma and souls in exile, a life defining friendship built between Libyan males, between 18 year old Khaled from Benghazi, on a scholarship studying English Literature at Edinburgh University, and Mustafa, whom he meets there. Both are aware they are being closely monitored by those reporting back to the repressive, authoritarian dictatorship of Quaddafi, with its kidnappings, torture and assassinations. On a trip to London, the pair attend a protest in St James Square, outside the Libyan embassy, in which police officer Yvonne Fletcher is shot dead. Khaled is another who is shot, the bullet causing serious damage, Mustafa too is hit, but less badly hurt.

The repercussions on their lives change everything, returning home or to Edinburgh is out of the question, with Mustafa initially going to Manchester and Khaled living in flat owned by his friend Rana, an architectural student, prior to renting a home he settles in for the decades ahead in Shepherd's Bush. A profoundly affecting, tender, intimate, and deep bond is formed between the 2 men, a friendship where only the other knows and shares the emotional, mental and spiritual truth of what happened to them, the price to be paid for their actions, and comprehend the desolation, despair, and the desperation behind the struggle to form new lives within an unfamiliar culture and country. When he was 14, Khaled listened to a allegorical short story by Hosam Zowa, The Given and the Taken, in which a man is being eaten by a cat, read in place of the news on the radio that significantly shapes his thinking and his future. Khaled encounters Zowa in a Paris hotel, becoming friends with a Zowa who no longer writes, but comes to London, becoming an integral part of the regularly meeting friends.

We follow the political changes and upheavals through the years in Libya, the friends growing and developing in their distinct ways, the relationships shifting and changing, particularly with Khaled left behind when Mustafa and Zowa make the decision to return home to fight to overthrow the regime. Zowa later moves for a diiferent future, to go and settle in California with Malak and their 4 year old daughter, Angelica, and Mustafa settles into a life that looks toward the past at home, having a family and children there. The life Khaled has built in London unquestionably changes who he is, the new life he has weaved is one he had to commit to through the decades, events and family in Benghazi have moved on without him, he loves them but uprooting himself to start again feels beyond him, but the pillars that held him together, his friends, his chosen family, validating and witnesses to who he is and observed who he has become, are no longer there. An unforgettable, brilliantly incisive, astonishly perceptive, and exquisitely written novel on literature, and the human beings experiencing the state of exile. It grips, captivates, informs, and resonates, I was making copious notes throughout, and I believe many others will love this as much as I do. Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

In lucid prose, Hisham Matar tells the story of Khaled, exiled because of one rash act. As the title suggests, it is also about his friends, Mustafa and Hosam, both also far from home. Living in London they at times forget the struggle in Libya and want to ignore it to get on with their lives. Eventually, Mustafa and Hosam are drawn into the fight against Gaddafi's dictatorship but Khaled has no desire to go back.

This is a story of exile and friendship, and the meaning of home.

Very moving and written with depth of feeling.

Emotional and poignant, this book tells an intricate story over decades of friendship. The way the author weaved the timelines together was fascinating and I really liked reading about the characters and their struggles and friendships.

I love Hisham Matar's writing, it is powerful and melancholy, but not overly sentimental. He writes with compassion and insightfulness about homeland, longing, friendship and family. A hugely compelling and very enjoyable read.

Hisham Matar’s My Friends follows three Libyan exiles, all of whom were protesting outside their country’s Embassy in St James’ Square on April 17, 1984 when WPC Yvonne Fletcher was fatally shot.

When Khaled is fourteen years old, he hears a story on the BBC Arabic World Service by Hosam Zowa which ignites a passion for literature in him. He wins a scholarship to Edinburgh University where he meets Mustapha who persuades him to attend the demo where both are badly wounded when shots are fired into the crowd. Mustapha restlessly throws himself into a variety of different jobs, while Khaled shuts himself down, wary of any approach, and terrified of putting his family in Libya at risk. Years later, he meets Hosam, beginning a friendship which will embrace Mustapha. When the Arab Spring erupts, Mustapha becomes part of the rebel force in Libya, while Khaled holds back, surprised when Hosam joins their friend. Decades after they first met, Hosam returns to London on his way to a new life with his family in America.

A long, absorbing and eloquent novel, both enlightening and moving in its depiction of the loneliness of exile and a life made narrow by political oppression and fear.

Far, far away from home, return is impossible, and exile the only option

Hisham Matar, born in America, is the son of a Libyan dissident. His father Jaballa Matar was abducted and disappeared by Gadaafi’s regime in 1990, when Matar was 20. Hisham and his brother had already been studying firstly in Egypt, then in England under different names and identities, His brother had also been schooled in Switzerland, but Gadaafi’s long and vengeful arm had already made another identity and location imperative.

I had not read anything by Hisham Matar before. Something I shall definitely rectify, after finishing this tender, beautifully written, heartbreaking, measured , fictional account of friendship and exile.

Although the three young men, later middle aged men who are the central characters in this book of Libyan exiles are fictional, real events are pivotal in this book. As are real people who suffered hideously and violently for their dissension against the repressive and vicious regime in their homeland.

Two major events are also pivots and defining moments in this book. Firstly, the 1984 protest by Libyans outside the Libyan embassy in London, where the protestors, mainly students, were gunned down by regime loyalists inside the embassy, and a British policewoman, Yvonne Fletcher, was also killed by those firing on the protestors. Secondly, in the wake of ‘the Arab Spring’ the Libyan Civil War uprisings which resulted in 2011, in the death of Gadaafi

The main character in this book, Khaled, studying at Edinburgh University, forms a friendship with another Libyan, Mustafa. Both are aware that some of their fellow Libyan students are in fact regime loyalists, and reporting back to the regime on any dissidents or potential dissidents. Another older man, Hosem, a writer who was instrumental in Khaled’s love of literature and desire to study English literature, also becomes a friend. The three have very different trajectories, the experience of their own, or family members’ resistance to the Libyan regime, changing their natures, and defining and limiting their choices.

I read this with total attention and absorption. It is also one of those books which inevitably makes the reader think and feel intensely about migration, exile, and those who are born in places where any dissent is punished, and living true to oneself is fraught with danger. Highly recommended.

A poignant and powerful novel involving Khaled and Mustafa, Libyan students in Edinburgh who join a demonstration in London which leaves their lives irrevocably altered.
A captivating and thoroughly enjoyable read.

This is a charming but occasionally tragic look at a young man's life as he struggles with his identity in Libya and subsequently at the University of Edinburgh. Khaled is initially interested and then very inquisitive when he meets the author and they form a solid and often intriguing friendship while listening to a podcast of a guy devoured by his own cat. The work explores a variety of issues, including the regime and history, but family and relationships take center stage as Khaled develops and understands the value of friendship, and we see him grow into a wonderful young gentleman!

Three young Libyan men live in political exile. Mustafa and Khaled attend a protest outside the Libyan Embassy and their lives are altered irrevocably when government officials open fire on the crowd. Since this pivotal moment, the two friends and their friend Hosam, a writer, conduct shared lives that revolve continuously around the call of the homeland and for their own various reasons, their inability to answer its call.

This was such a wonderful beginning to my reading month and I am so very glad that it has introduced me to Hisham Matar's writing as I will most definitely be looking into reading more of his work. I found this incredibly moving and the sympathetic portrayal of the young men's situation was so delicately and deeply explored. The profound nostalgia and longing for Libya, its sea and mountains, its streets, food, language, their families - this all permeated the entire novel so intensely and painted such a beautiful and sympathetic portrayal of a life lived away from home, home in every sense of the word.

As a literature student myself, there was never any possibility that Khaled wouldn't endear himself to me immediately through his love of literature and his deep appreciation for the written (and spoken!) word. When Khaled and Hosam undertook to visit all the places that their favourite writers had lived merely to look at them from the outside, I knew that I was reading the words of someone that had felt the same as I in some way. Of course, the novel's more pressing focus was on the political anxieties of the men and the difficult balance between yearning for a connection and belonging to Libya, and the knowledge that much must be concealed to preserve the safety of their remaining family. I was moved by the thought of the unbearable loneliness Khaled endured in his attempts to conceal the truth from them.

The beating heart of the novel is the friendship that connects the three men despite their differences and the moving paths they all choose to take. Of course, the friendship between Rana and Khaled also is well worth mentioning. Friendship becomes the tie that binds these separate figures, connecting them in their orbit around the distant gravitational force of Libya. I admired Matar's portrayal of the kind of friendship that holds up lives and gives sense to a world that is too difficult to navigate alone, especially considering the added strain of political turmoil in a foreign land, with foreign language and people.

I really loved this novel and am very grateful to have been given the opportunity to read it in advance!

A powerful slow burn. Khaled is a Libyan exile living in the UK - firstly Edinburgh and then London.

It is a story of friendship, love, exile and identity. I learnt a lot about Libyan politics from this.

It deserves a second read which I shall do when it is Booker listed next year….though based on this year’s long list he might lose out to Dan Brown’s latest.

Thanks to Netgallery for the ARC.

My Friends is about Khaled and his two friends: Hosam, a writer and Mustafa, a former pupil of Khaled’s father whom he meets at university in Edinburgh. They come from Libya to the UK in the 1980s, and over the next two decades the turbulent political situation of their home country influences and defines everything in their lives, from career choices to their relationships with their families and partners.

This is is a work of fiction based on two specific historical events in British and Libyan history as well as Matar’s own experience as the son of a dissident. His father was kidnapped in Egypt in 1990 and subsequently transported to Libya, never to be seen by his family again. He wrote about this in his memoir The Return and My Friends gives a further glimpse into the plight of Libyan exiles through the three friends. They passionately care for their country and people but are forced to forge new lives for themselves elsewhere because they have expressed their dislike of the regime which has made it unsafe for them return. As the kidnap of the author’s father shows, the reach of Gaddafi’s dictatorship extended far beyond its borders. Libyan students were befriended by informers who would watch their actions and listen to their conversation and even when Khaled manages to break free of this surveillance after taking a pivotal part in a demonstration, he is still controlled by his fear of the consequences of his actions not only for himself but especially for his family, who remain in Libya.

Each of the friends responds in their own way to their situation, and although the friendships wax and wane, they stay in touch through emails, and occasional meetings, giving a broad range of views and experiences. Matar has a readable, beautiful style and his writing is reflective and perceptive. It’s such a rich novel which is about the effects of silence and secrecy on relationships with family and friends, the trauma of displacement and violence, trust and distrust, friendship, belonging and so much more. It’s a powerful book that lends context to the murder of Police Officer Yvonne Fletcher outside the Libyan Embassy in 1984, an event that many will remember.

I will read it again and would recommend to anyone who wants to learn more about the events of the time and who enjoys literary fiction with a powerful punch.

One more thing: I loved the detailed descriptions of London streets as Khaled walks across the city and have bookmarked the walking tour of writers’ homes to recreate when I’m next there.

Available from 10th January 2024.

With much thanks to Penguin for a review copy.

The narrative centres around the real life event of the 1984 shooting outside the Libyan Embassy in London and the effects on three young Libyan friends living in the uk. The characters are sympathetic, the friendship is moving, and the story is engaging. A very enjoyable read.

Hisham Matar is an in-family-exile American-born British Libyan writer. His debut novel “In The Country of Men” (about a child whose family are politically persecuted and terrorised in Qadaffi’s 1970 Libya) was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2006; his memoir “The Return” about his trip to Libya in 2012 (after the fall of the Qadaffi regime) to investigate the disappearance of his political dissident father after being kidnapped by Libyan agents in Egypt won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Biography and the 2017 Folio Prize. (Note his second novel “Anatomy of A Disappearance”, although not strictly autobiographical, was partly a novelisation of the author’s childhood in Egypt with the main character’s dissident father abducted).

This is his third novel – and the first of his books I have read and I was strongly reminded of the writing of the work of the British Tanzanian writer Abdulrazak Gurnah – 2021 Nobel Prize winner whose writing often centres around the fate of the involuntary exile.

This book is however more political and has as two key scenes (one played out directly in the novel with the main character a victim, one recounted via a letter to the main character from the titular friends who were key actors in it) two Libyan related incidents which I think will be imprinted on the mind of British readers of the right age: the 1984 Libyan Embassy shooting (and the murder of PC Yvonne Fletcher) and Qadaffi’s 2011 death.

When the book was announced in March 2023 Matar said in what I think serves as an excellent introduction to it: <i>“It is a book about how people end up where they end up, and how often that seems to be determined as much by ideology or politics as by personal temperament. It is a book told across a walk, from St Pancras to Shepherd’s Bush, and therefore as well as being the story of these Libyan exiles, it is also a book about London.”</i>

Our first party narrator is Khaled – and the book is effectively narrated around 2016 as he walks back from Kings Cross (where he left his friend Hosam to catch the Eurostar from St Pancras to Paris) to his West London home.

Hosam is enroute to America where he is going to emigrate after having spent 5 years in Libya as part of the revolution, civil war and its aftermath. Khaled has never returned to Libya since coming to Edinburgh on a government scholarship to study English literature where he met his other close friend Mustafa (who also returned from exile to join the Libyan revolution).

As Khaled walks he reflects at considerable length on his past, many of the memories promoted by locations on his walk – with most of the novel being firmly set there and some formative experiences including:

In 1980 as a fourteen year old, hearing with his family (and particularly his father a highly respected headmaster who gave up his academic career and ambitions after Qadaffi took power in 1969) BBC World Service and the real-life London based Libyan born presenter Mohammed Mustafa Ramadan unexpectedly reading out a surreal but subversive short story by a young writer (who is Hosam)

The subsequent assassination of Ramadan at Regent’s Park Mosque

In his first year at Edinburgh, and trying to stay out of politics like his father, being persuaded by his closest friend Mustafa to take part in the protests outside the Libyan embassy and being shot and seriously wounded

He and the less seriously wounded Mustafa’s time in hospital where the publication of Hosam’s first short story collection acts to sustain them (although a subsequent radio interview where he does not speak against the Libyan government tarnishes his legendary status to them)

Realising that a return either to Edinburgh (where a number of the Libyan students are government informers) or Libya (where those who were shot have been proclaimed traitors) is impossible and ending up in a very passive and involuntary exile in London, for years deceiving his family as to his location let alone what happened to him

Many years later a chance (I would actually say close to implausible) encounter in Paris with Hosam so setting up their friendship

The events of the Libyan revolution as Mustafa and then Hosam return, and actively participate (including one of them discovering Qadaffi) but Khaled finds himself psychologically unable to return – driving a wedge between himself and two friends he had previously seen as opposites but who know have a bond between them much deeper than they have with him

Mixed with this is something of a reflection on various aspects of London – including the many famous novelists who lived there and various Arabic assassinations which occurred there.

Where the book excels I think is in two areas: a really strong overview of Libyan politics over decades (even if the central involvement of the three characters in key incidents is perhaps a little too strained) and, like with Gurnah, in its portrayal of the life of the political exile – neither truly part of their home or adopted country. Khaled’s resulting inability to get truly close to anyone, including to his beloved family is carefully and affectingly portrayed. If I had a criticism it is that the book rather drifts – which while it reflects Khaled’s own passivity and aimlessness (part character and part his fate) does make this a slow rather than engrossing read (and it is telling that I broke off and completed two other novels while reading this over a week or more).