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The Return

Fathers, Sons and the Land In Between

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The Return

By: Hisham Matar
Narrated by: Hisham Matar
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION
SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARD
WINNER OF THE SLIGHTLY FOXED BEST FIRST BIOGRAPHY PRIZE
ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES' TOP 10 BOOKS OF 2016

Hisham Matar was nineteen when his father was kidnapped and taken to prison in Libya. He would never see him again. Twenty-two years later, the fall of Gaddafi meant he was finally able to return to his homeland.

In this moving memoir, the author takes us on an illuminating journey, both physical and psychological; a journey to find his father and rediscover his country.

The Return is at once a universal and an intensely personal tale. It is an exquisite meditation on how history and politics can bear down on an individual life. And yet Hisham Matar's memoir isn't just about the burden of the past, but the consolation of love, literature and art. It is the story of what it is to be human.

©2016 Hisham Matar (P) 2016 Penguin Audio

 Art & Literature Authors Middle East Africa

Critic Reviews

The Return is a riveting book about love and hope, but it is also a moving meditation on grief and loss. It draws a memorable portrait of a family in exile and manages also to explore the politics of Libya with subtlety and steely intelligence. It is likely to become a classic. (Colm Tóibín)
What a brilliant book. Hisham Matar has the quality all historians - of the world and the self - most need: he knows how to stand back and let the past speak. In chronicling his quest for his father his manner is fastidious, even detached, but his anger is raw and unreconciled; through his narrative art he bodies out the shape of loss, and gives a universality to his very particular experience of desolation. 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)

I love that book more than I can put into words. It is stunning, brilliant, touching, proud and noble... A hymn to a father and to decency itself, in the midst of hell... And a total work of art. It reminded me of Solzhenitsyn. It is of the same importance. I love it.

(James Rebanks)
Matar is a delightful writer and his book bristles with arresting wisdom (Jeremy Paxman)
A triumph of art over tyranny, structurally thrilling, intensely moving, The Return is a treasure for the ages (Peter Carey)
The Return is tremendously powerful. Although it filled me with rage again and again, I never lost sight of Matar's beautiful intelligence as he tried to get to the heart of the mystery. I am so very grateful he has written this book (Nadeem Aslam)
Matar is the writer who has done most to convey the reality of Col Gaddafi's Libya (Gideon Rachman)
Extraordinary . . . One of the most brilliant literary debuts of recent years
Matar is beginning to do for the Arab experience what the likes of Salman Rushdie have done for the sub-continent
A magnificent memoir of exile and loss (Rawi Hage)
All stars
Most relevant
Compelling true story written by a man with a fabulous poetic sensibility. Hearing it read by the author himself added another dimension, his voice is thick with bitterness and melancholy. An insight into Libyan history too. The male characters are rich and real, but we only get fleeting glimpses of the women and I'm left wondering about them.

Loved it

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I had a written copy of this book as well as the audio version and would recommend the written format - definitely 4 star. The book moves between cities and decades, often within a chapter, which works well in the written format but was confusing in the audiobook. I also feel the beautiful prose is better pondered in the written form. Maybe it was just my download but a large section of chapter 14 was repeated.

This book is a wonderful testament to Hisham's father, family and country. A story of love and loss and Libya's history. Highly recommend.

A powerful memoir - better in written format

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Tight, accomplished and razor sharp observational writing. Revelations about the horrors of Gaddafi’s corrupt years and against it, the long, determined and frustrating search for the truth about what happened to Hisham’s wonderful father. Gold. A must read

Astonishing

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