In the Country of Men

On a white-hot day in Tripoli, Libya, in thesummer of 1979, nine-year-old Suleiman is shopping in the market square with his mother. His father is away on business – but Suleiman is sure he has just seen him, standing across the street in a pair of dark glasses. But why isn’t he waving? And why doesn’t he come over when he knows Suleiman’s mother is falling apart?Whispers and fears intensify around Suleiman: his best friend’s father disappears and is next seen being interrogated on state television; a man parks his car outside the house every day and asks strange questions; and his mother frantically burns his father’s books. As Suleiman beings to wonder whether his father has disappeared for good, it feels as if the walls of his home will break with secrets that are being held within.‘Exquisite, so full of essential truths: the more you read the more you feel the childhood described in it is yours’ Nadeem Aslam, author of Maps for Lost Lovers‘In the Country of Men understands that love – despite betrayal, grief, mistrust, rage, political terror – nevertheless remains love. And in fact, over time, this love – between parent and child, between the exile and his homeland – all the more ferociously and ingeniously ties its knots’ Anne Michaels, authour of Fugitive PiecesHISHAM MATAR was born in New York City in 1970 to Libyan parents and spent his childhood first in Tripoli and then in Cairo. He has lived in London since 1986 and is currently at work on his second novel. In the Country of Men will be published in thirteen languages.