My Friends by Hisham Matar

"And yet I had imagined the others, the many more who attended the demonstration and then resumed their lives, able to walk away on their own two feet. I feel underwater when I think of them, because to think of them is to imagine that other, unharmed version of myself, who got back on the bus to Edinburgh, and could fly home for the summer, to sleep in his own house and swim in his childhood sea. The line that now separates me from my former self is the chasm that I remain unable to bridge". - Hisham Matar, My Fruends

In thinking about My Friends by Hisham Matar (lomglisted for this year's Booker Prize) I would describe it as a novel in which the narrator, Khaled Abd al Hady, reflects on his past and how one decision he made when first arriving in the UK as an 18 year old student dramatically altered the course of his life. 

My Friends begins in London.  It is 2016 and Khaled is now in his late 50's and seeing off his friend of many years, Hosam Zowa, who is moving to the US.  Hosam will not be returning to England and so this is a final goodbye.  Hosam leaves and Khaled spends the day walking around London visiting places with special meaning for him and reflecting on his life, his family, his friendship with Hosam and his friendship with Mustafa al Touny who eventally returned to Libya.

We learn that Khaled first arrived in the UK from Libya in 1983.  He had a scholarship to the University of Edinburgh where his plan was to earn a degree in literature.  Colonel Qaddafi ruled Libya at the time and you did not criticize the Qadaffi regime or your life would be in danger.  And though no fan of Qaddafi, Khaled wanted to stay in school, earn his degree, return to Libya and get on with his life.

But then in 1984, Mustafa, a fellow student, tells Khaled that there is going to be a demonstration in London in front of the Libyian Embassy and that they should go. Mustafa is a rebellious and impulsive young man.  Khaled in comparison doesn't want to go but he doesn't want to seem cowardly.  And since everyone at the demonstration will be masked what is the danger?  They can protest for awhile, show their support, and leave.

This demonstration at the center of the novel was a real event that occured on April 17, 1984.  We know of it because on that day Libyian officers stationed at a window inside the embassy opened fire on the demonstrators.  Eleven of the protestors were wounded and a young British policewoman Yvonne Fletcher was tragically killed.  Britain broke off all diplomatic relations with Libya after that.

And in the novel Khalid and Mustafa are among the eleven wounded.  They recover but because they had to spend weeks in a London hospital the Libyian government knows who they are and they cannot return to Libya.  They are granted asylum in Britain.  The novel progresses from there and in 1994 Khaled while visiting Paris meets his boyhood hero, the writer Hosam Zowa, who is also living in exile due to his opposition to Qadaffi. 

The three men, Khaled, Hosam and Mustafa form a bond and as the years go by their lives take different routes which Khaled shares with the reader as he walks through London reflecting on his life, his family, his friendships and what it means to live in exile.

I would say that My Friends is a political novel and a very good one.  The writing is first rate and thought-provoking.  And the author Hisham Matar has first hand experience with the subject matter. His father, Jaballa Matar, a vocal critic of Qaddafi was living in Cairo and abducted in 1990 by the Libyian secret police.  Hisham Matar never saw his father again and his memoir The Return about his search for what happened to his father was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 2017.  A previous novel by Hisham Matar, In The Company of Men, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2006.  

So having never heard of Hisham Matar I am glad I paid attention to this year's Booker Prize nominees.  I strongly recommend My Friends and now on to The Safekeep and Enlightenment which I have high hopes for as well.