The Return by Hisham Matar

 

When Muammar Gaddafi took over as a dictator in Libya, he ordered that his opponents be rounded up and imprisoned.  Hisham Matar was nineteen when most of the male members of his family were disappeared, uncles, cousins and his father.  They were imprisoned in the most notorious prison, Abu Salim where torture and interrogations were the norm along with deprivation of food and any comforts.  Most lived there for over twenty years and were only released with the overthrow of Gaddaffi and his government.  Matar's father, Jaballah, was never heard from again although it is suspected that he was one of the over one thousand men who were killed one day by firing squad at the prison.

This book tells the story of Matar's return to Libya after living his life in Egypt and England.  He reunites with his male relatives and uses whatever connections he has to try to get a definite answer about his father.  Was he killed that day?  Is he still imprisoned?  

Although one hears about cases like this, only the concrete recollections of someone who has lost a relative and gone through years of agony trying to find the answers brings it home in such a definite way.  This memoir won the Pulitzer Prize and Matar has been listed for the Booker several times, including this year.  His love and his search is inspiring while the understanding of what those men went through for twenty years, losing the best years of their lives and their dreams of how their lives would turn out is heartbreaking.  This book is recommended for nonfiction readers.