A very moving elegy to belonging and a meditation on friendship over the years. The impact of one decision to visit a demonstration has a knock on impact for the rest of a young man's life.

This book is so thoughtfully and beautifully written, it covers so much ground and is revealing about exile, the sense of self, friendship, relationships and family, it is an absolute heartbreaking joy to read.

A beautifully, written and evocative book about 3 Libyan student friends living in Europe because to return home would mean death. Drawing on real events, Khaled and Mustafa attend a protest in London outside the Libyan Embassy and are shot by snipers from inside, who also killed PC Yvonne Fletcher. The story follows them over 30 years and is not directly about the politics, It is about the meaning of friendship, family, loyalty and the choice between longing for home and staying in exile or returning to topple a dictator. The language of this book is astonishing and beautiful.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC

I started without knowing what to expect of the book, because I never read the author before. This book is about friendship, about what we feel and call home, about live in exile is, about family, about resilience this book is about a journey and the friendship and places we call home during that journey. I am amazed about how much I enjoyed the way the author wrote and how easy yo ready this book was for me. Is a bittersweet book because you got all the realities of exile and what comes with it. For be my first introduction to the autor I definitely will go and look some other books of him. Fairy a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️+ for me. Thank you very much to @penguinrandomhouse and special to Alexia Thomaidis for the access to this ARC. The publish date is: 9th of January of 2024 #netgalley #netgalleyreviewer #penguinrandomhouse #books #hishamatarauthor

Sometimes you read a book that is so exquisitely beautiful and moving that you know it will stay with you long after you've finished it.- this is one of those books.

This is a story about friendship and exile ; about three lives that are connected by an event and the power of writing and words.

Khaled lives with his family in Libya- an educated, questioning family who are united in their appreciation of the writing of a young author called Hosam. When Khaled gets the opportunity to attend university in Edinburgh, he meets Mustafa and so begins a friendship that leads the two young men to be present at the Libyan Embassy siege in April 1984. The impact of this event changes the course of the men's lives ; they live in fear of reprisals and become exiles in London. The bond that ties them is deep and psychologically impacts upon their very existence.

When Khaled chances upon meeting Hosam some years later in Paris, a new dynamic is formed that further deepens the connections between the three men. The stories of Khaled, Mustafa and Hosam are told through events over the next 30 years- each man struggling to find his place in an 'alien' society but also torn with inner conflict of not seeing family in Libya. The turmoils and decisions that need to be made by each of the men has a profound impact on each other.

This is story that explores the impact of separation from loved ones, the isolation of being in a different country and observing what is happening to your 'homeland' from an outside perspective but most importantly the need for connection with others to make sense of what is happening in your own life and the wider world.

Having read a Month in Siena by Hisham Matar, a stunningly moving book about the impact of art on life after tragedy, it was of no surprise that the prose of My Friends would be equally beautiful and emotional. It would take a hard heart not to be drawn in to Khaled's world and not feel the dilemmas he encounters- his emotions are palpable. This is a book not just about Libyans in exile but a message about displaced people today who live under the fear of what happens when you stand up against a regime and find your own personal identity is in many senses taken away.

A book to slowly savour - powerful , emotional and deserving of any plaudits it should receive .

Thanks to an early netgalley proof I had the great pleasure to dive into Hisham Matar's upcoming  novel, " My friends". 

 Matar's entire body of work is overshadowed by his father's  tragic disappearence / abduction during Libya's Gaddafi regime. This political situation is also the ground base of  what happens  in "My friends". Khaled and Mustafa, both studying on a grant in the UK, decide to attend a demonstration of exiles in front of the Libyian embassy in London.  The shots fired from the embassy,  hitting Khaled, will forever dominate and change both friends lives and that of Hosam, a writer in exile, Khaled's closest friend. 

Matar is a master at describing the crueling effect and long reach of dictatorships into everyone's life. A powerful, brilliant novel that could not be more timely and a very moving portrait of the deep connection between these three friends and their family.

I learned so much from this book. I had never thought about the implications of events happening thousands of miles away and how their ripples travel.
Our narrator Khaled comes to the United Kingdom, from Libya to study in Edinburgh where he meets mustaha. Theirs is an off and on friendship until the fateful day they travel to London for the protest against Gadaffi. This changes everything for them both and they are forever tied.
Beautiful writing and description. I feel bereft now that I have finished it will remain with me for a long time

‘Friend. What a word. Most use it about those they hardly know. When it is a wondrous thing.’

This is a novel which explores the nature of friendship.

Khaled is an eighteen-year-old Libyan student in Edinburgh. He meets a fellow Libyan, Mustafa, who tends to dominate their friendship. It is as if Khaled does not want to disappoint Mustafa, so much so that he agrees to travel to London to join a demonstration in front of the Libyan Embassy against the then Qaddafi (sic) military regime. This demo really happened in 1984, with tragic consequences, which the author, Hisham Matar, describes really well.

This leaves the two friends unable to return home, to make meaningful contact with their families for fear of listeners, and the novel is about how well each adapt to their changed lives.

A third friend is Hosam who is a little older and a published writer. These three form a triangle of friends, though as Khaled is the narrator it feels as if he is at the centre.

Matar writes movingly and I like how the friendships are not perfect and how he shows how decisions affect others. The writing is very good and I would read more from this author.

I read a copy provided by NetGalley and the publishers.