Synopsis
Khaled and Mustafa meet at university in Edinburgh: two Libyan eighteen-year-olds expecting to return home after their studies. In a moment of recklessness and courage, they travel to London to join a demonstration in front of the Libyan embassy. When government officials open fire on protestors in broad daylight, both friends are wounded, and their lives forever changed.
Over the years that follow, Khaled, Mustafa and their friend Hosam, a writer, are bound together by their shared history. If friendship is a space to inhabit, theirs becomes small and inhospitable when a revolution in Libya forces them to choose between the lives they have created in London and the lives they left behind.
Publisher information
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
- ISBN: 9780241987032
- Number of pages: 464
- Dimensions: 196 x 127 x 27 mm
- Weight: 316g
- Languages: English
Customer Reviews
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Powerful, emotional ..a triumph of friendship
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 t... READ MORE
Friend and family and being stuck in time
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... READ MORE
An absorbing, eloquent novel about the loneliness of exile
Hisham Matar’s My Friends follows three Libyan exiles, all of whom were protesting outside their country’s Embassy in St James’ Square on April 17, 1984 wh... READ MORE
My Friends
A story of the intertwining of two Libyan men who met when they were 18, Khaled and Mustafa. They met while at Edinburgh University which was an honour fo... READ MORE
Loved it
Narrator Khaled’s close friend and writer Hosam is leaving for the USA. On his slow walk from Kings Cross station to his home in London, he reflects on his... READ MORE
A sweeping novel on political exile, the formation of identity, and the strength of friendship.
Three young Libyan men live in political exile. Mustafa and Khaled attend a protest outside the Libyan Embassy and their lives are altered irrevocably when... READ MORE
a story of exile and friendship
In lucid prose, Hisham Matar tells the story of Khaled, exiled because of one rash act. As the title suggests, it is also about his friends, Mustafa and Ho... READ MORE
Friendship in exile
My first book by Hisham Matar. I was curious about the premise because I remember the shocking incident which triggered the breakdown of relations between ... READ MORE
An epic tale
Hisham Matar's latest novel is an epic narrative, which sweeps through decades and across continents, and yet remains tautly focused on one man, and the im... READ MORE
Beautifully woven story of exile and evolving friendships
This book unfolds slowly and gently. It establishes the characters of Khaled’s family and gives you an insight into the culture and rhythm of life in Libya... READ MORE
Brilliant and captivating
Somehow this novel reconciles one’s heartbreak over exile and makes amends in ways I never imagined. It shatters you then poetically puts back the pieces.
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