My Friends

A profound exploration of friendship and exile

Hisham Matar author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Penguin Books Ltd

Published:9th Jan '25

Should be back in stock very soon

This paperback is available in another edition too:

My Friends cover

This powerful narrative explores the impact of exile on friendship and identity, as Khaled and Mustafa navigate their changed lives in London. My Friends is a touching tale.

In My Friends, we follow the intertwined lives of Khaled and Mustafa, two Libyan teenagers who meet at university in Edinburgh. Their initial plans to return home after their studies take a dramatic turn when they decide to join a protest in London against the Libyan government. The demonstration quickly escalates into chaos as government officials open fire, leaving both friends injured and forever altering their futures. This pivotal moment marks the beginning of their complex journey through friendship, loss, and the search for identity in a foreign land.

As time passes, Khaled, Mustafa, and their friend Hosam, a talented writer, navigate the challenges of living in exile. Their friendship, once a source of comfort and strength, becomes strained as they grapple with the consequences of their choices. The revolution in Libya creates a rift between their past and present lives, forcing them to confront the realities of their situation. The novel beautifully captures the tension between longing for home and the bonds formed in a new environment, making it a poignant reflection on the nature of belonging.

My Friends is not just a story about friendship; it is a meditation on the complexities of human relationships in the face of adversity. The narrative is both unsentimental and deeply moving, offering readers a glimpse into the emotional landscape of those who have been uprooted. It is a tale of resilience, highlighting how the ties that bind us can also lead to profound heartache and transformation.

A deeply touching, beautifully composed book * Sunday Times *
I have always admired Matar's tender and compassionate but equally strong and compelling voice -- Elif Shafak
My Friends is a brilliant novel about innocence and experience, about friendship, family and exile. It makes clear, once more, that Hisham Matar is a supremely talented novelist. * Colm Toibin *
Hisham Matar's MY FRIENDS recounts an exile's life shattered by violence, yet sustained, fiercely if complicatedly, by friendship. An unforgettable novel -- wise, urgent and profound -- from one of our era's great writers. * Claire Messud *
It is impossible to describe the profound depth and beauty of this book. MY FRIENDS is a breathtaking novel, every page a miracle and an affirmation. If there is a language of exile, MY FRIENDS is what it sounds like: exquisite and painful, compassionate and unflinching, and above all, overwhelming in its boundless hope that within exile rests a path towards a different kind of return. One that leads us back to ourselves. Hisham is one of our greatest writers, how lucky we are to be in his midst. * Maaza Mengiste, author of THE SHADOW KING, shortlisted for the Booker Prize *
'I could not love this book more. Reflective, compelling, deeply tender at times, there are surprising shifts and turns and moments of utter brilliance where new understanding blooms. A walk across London from King’s Cross Station to Shepherd's Bush gives rise to memories of a life diverted by a moment of political action. About friendship, exile, belonging, lives lived and not lived, and Libya's recent past, London emerges as a place of refuge, a transitory half-home even after three decades, a stepping stone. As soon as I finished, I started again beguiled by Matar’s long, sinuous sentences and enlivened by my new knowledge of what it was all about, my heart moving in my chest. My Friends is the most beautiful, complete, masterful novel I have read in a long time. Read it.' -- Priscilla Morris, author of the Women's Prize shortlisted BLACK BUTTERFLIES
Tender, precise, and incredibly moving, MY FRIENDS is a rare novel, holding so much of the human heart that it is at times unbearably real. It’s impossible to read this book without feeling a renewed connection to the world and all its intricate sorrow and love. -- Seán Hewitt, author of ALL DOWN DARKNESS WIDE
Poignant and quietly suspenseful... Readers encountering Matar for the first time will find in “My Friends” a masterly literary meditation on his lifelong themes. For those who already know his work, the effect is amplified tenfold. -- New York Times
Meditative yet propulsive – as well as structurally inventive – the narrative puts us in Khaled’s mind as he walks across his adopted city while reflecting on youth, exile and the flashpoints of Libya’s recent history -- Mail on Sunday * Anthony Cummins *
Dazzling...a personal, deeply felt work...tightly structured and controlled, looping back and forth through time and memory, building on itself in a process of gradual expansion and revelation * Toronto Star *

ISBN: 9780241987032

Dimensions: 197mm x 129mm x 29mm

Weight: 323g

464 pages