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Born in New York to Libyan parents, Hisham Matar spent his childhood in Tripoli and Cairo and has lived most of his adult life in England. His debut novel In the Country of Men was published in twenty-nine languages and won numerous international prizes as well as being shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the Guardian First Book Award. His second novel, Anatomy of a Disappearance, was published to great acclaim in 2011. He lives in London and New York.
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 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 Toibin 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 A magnificent memoir of exile and loss -- Rawi Hage In 'The Return,' Hisham Matar has written one of the essential books of our times -- Adam Foulds A profound and powerful meditation on love, loss and exile... lyrically explores the meaning of home and the heart-breaking personal consequences of tyrannical political events. Sunday Express A truly remarkable book. From the raw materials of his anger, his suffering, and his grief, Matar has built a testament to his father, his family and his country. Daily Telegraph Written with hard-won clarity and unsentimental intelligence, The Return stands comparison with the best literature of exile Prospect [An] extraordinary memoir...Matar has forged a memoir that in its nuance and nobility bears unforgettable witness to love, to courage and to humanity. The Return is also a subtle and nimble work of art. It shifts elegantly between past and present, between dialogue and soliloquy, between urgent, even suspenseful action and probing meditations on exile, grief and loss...The Return deserves a place in the exalted company of those who hope against hope ...This work will survive -- Financial Times Marvellously well-handled memoir...Yet it is also remarkably composed and calmly written, its tone at times reminiscent of one of Kazuo Ishiguro's puzzled, damaged narrators, at others of the skilful recovery of the past performed in Edmund de Waal's The Hare with Amber Eyes. Although highly informative about what it is to be part of Libya's tormented history, it is even more valuable as an expression of both filial and paternal love. Evening Standard Magnificent -- The Times
