A review by flyingfox02
The Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between by Hisham Matar

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

4.5

A very poignant memoir of Hisham Matar's return to Libya in search of answers regarding his father, a prominent and respected activist who was kidnapped in 1990 by Libyan dictatorship. It is beautifully written; lyrical prose and philosophical observations interlace with the hard factual overview of historical events. Much of the history I was ignorant to. I am in awe of the resilience, patience, strength, perseverance that Matar and his family have shown all of their lives (multiple other members of the family were also activists and kidnapped). I've never (and God willing will never) experienced anything close to the kind of horror and desperation described in this memoir, but I think in Matar's reflections about grief and hope there's a little something that everyone can understand and relate to.