My Friends

Khaled, a Libyan student living in London, carries a life shaped by exile, and Hisham Matar's novel follows the friendships that hold it together. Set against political upheaval and the long distance between a person and the country they left, the book traces how loyalty, memory and displacement work on three lives over decades. Matar writes with restraint rather than spectacle, and readers who know The Return or In the Country of Men will recognise the same attention to what exile does to ordinary attachments. Published by Penguin Publications. For the curious reader: • A narrative centred on exile, friendship and political violence • London and Libya held in view at the same time • Prose from an author known for precision and understatement • Themes of belonging and return handled without sentimentality For readers of literary fiction and international narratives of displacement, published by Penguin Publications and available from Boipoka.