About the Author

Hisham Matar was born in New York City to Libyan parents and spent his childhood first in Tripoli and then in Cairo. He is the author of two novels, In the Country of Men and Anatomy of a Disappearance, and a work of non-fiction, The Return. In the Country of Men was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, the Guardian First Book Award and the National Critics Book Circle Award in the US and won six international literary awards. The Return won a Pulitzer Prize, the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, the Folio Prize and was shortlisted for many other awards including the Baillie Gifford Prize. Hisham Matar lives in London.

Reviews

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
*Hilary Mantel*

It is likely to become a classic.
*Colm Tóibín*

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

Wise and agonizing and thrilling to read
*Zadie Smith*

Bristles with arresting wisdom
*Jeremy Paxman*

A treasure for the ages
*Peter Carey*

Tremendously powerful
*Nadeem Aslam*

A magnificent memoir of exile and loss
*Rawi Hage*

One of the essential books of our times
*Adam Foulds*

A profound and powerful meditation on love, loss and exile
*Sunday Express*

A truly remarkable book
*Daily Telegraph*

Stands comparison with the best literature of exile
*Prospect*

[An] extraordinary memoir
*Financial Times*

Marvellously well-handled memoir
*Evening Standard*

A tale of mighty love, loyalty and courage
*Spectator*

A masterful memoir, a searing meditation on loss, exile, grief, guilt, belonging and, above all, family.
*Book of the Week, Sunday Times*

Beautifully written
*Economist*

Exquisite
*Observer*

An astonishing political thriller
*Mail on Sunday*

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

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

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

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
*Wall Street Journal*

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
*Washington Post 10 Best Books of 2016*

The Return moved me to tears and taught me about love and home
*Guardian Books of the Year*

A desolating and powerful account of his son's search for his father, in life and death
*New Statesman Books of the Year*

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)
*Guardian Books of the Year*

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

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

The intelligence and grace of Matar's writing is fuelled by a fierce and valid rage
*Observer Books of the Year*

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
*Guardian Books of the Year*

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