debut novel
A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...
of writer
Hisham Matar
Hisham Matar ( ar, هشام مطر) (born 1970) is an American born British-Libyan writer. His memoir of the search for his father, '' The Return'', won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography and the 2017 PEN America Jean Stein Bo ...
, first published in 2006 by Viking, an imprint of
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a British publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.2006 Man Booker Prize and the
Guardian First Book Award
The Guardian First Book Award was a literary award presented by ''The Guardian'' newspaper. It annually recognised one book by a new writer. It was established in 1999, replacing the Guardian Fiction Award or Guardian Fiction Prize that the newspap ...
Ondaatje Prize
The Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize is an annual literary award given by the Royal Society of Literature. The £10,000 award is for a work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry that evokes the "spirit of a place", and is written by someon ...
as well as a host of international literary prizes. The book was also nominated for the 2007
National Book Critics Circle Award
The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English".Arab American Book Award
The Arab American Book Award, established in 2006, is an annual literary award to celebrate and support the research of, and the written work of, Arab Americans and their culture. The Arab American Book Award encourages the publication and excelle ...
in 2007.
Plot summary
The book follows the plight of Suleiman, a nine-year-old boy living in Tripoli in
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...
, stuck between a father whose clandestine anti-Qaddafi activities bring about searches, stalkings, and telephone eavesdroppings by
Qaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spelling ...
's state police, and a vulnerable young mother who resorts to alcohol to bury her anxiety and anger. The only people he has to turn to are his neighbor Kareem, and his father's best friend Moosa. The book provides a description of Libya under Qaddafi's terror regime, and a narration of ordinary people's lives as they try to survive the political oppression.
Suleiman grows up partially wealthy because his father, Faraj, is involved in the exotic trade business. Since Faraj's job involves traveling overseas for long periods of time, Suleiman's childhood has primarily been reared by his mother, Najwa. As a youth, Najwa was oppressed by her family, and she desired her independence through education instead of forcefully getting marriage. She made a plan to swallow multiple birth control pills in order to deter a future husband. However, she miraculously still got pregnant with Suleiman and was nonetheless forced to abandon her dream for education and raise Suleiman. She disparages the stories of '' One Thousand and One Nights'', claiming that Scheherazade still had to ask permission from Shahryar. Her cynical view of the world instills a sense of confusion and a weary eye towards authority.
Ustath Rashid, a university professor, moves next door to Suleiman's family and they become friends. Rashid and his son, Kareem, take Suleiman on a trip to Lepits Magna in order to engage with the history of Libya. Two days after the trip, Ustath Rashid is kidnapped by members of Qaddafi's Revolutionary Committee. Suleiman watches Kareem stand perplexed and confused, suddenly rumored to be a "traitor". A week later, Suleiman sees his father being followed by his office clerk, Nasser, at the Martyr's Square, and suspects him of being involved in something other than exotic trade. His suspicions prove true as the Revolutionary Committee comes his home and interrogate the family. Najwa and Moosa, Faraj's best friend and the son of a wealthy lawyer from Egypt, hangs a picture of Qaddafi in their living room. They burn all of Faraj's books and letters. Suleiman is saddened and angered by watching his father's work being destroyed, and he keeps a book titled ''Democracy Now'', a gift from Ustath Rashid.
Within the political, social, and familial confusion, Suleiman is forced to define his own independence and grows up awkwardly. He fights with Kareem as they play a game of "Your Land, My Land" because he called his father a traitor, he envies Adnan because he felt diabetes gives a person independence, and after offering the village beggar Bahloul food, he gets into a fight with him. His mother's psychology deteriorates throughout the confusion and becomes more reliant in consuming alcohol, but after she reveals to Suleiman a history of familial abuse, he imagines his mother happy, and realizes that the ability to imagine her happy means happiness is still attainable.
After making allegiance with their neighbor, Abu Jafer, Suleiman and his family watch a national broadcast to show the strength of Qaddafi's revolution. To deliver a symbolic message, the government hangs Ustath Rashid, demonstrating that no one is capable to stand against the revolution. Faraj returns after the hanging, is badly beaten, and Suleiman has fear for his father. In a moment of irony, Suleiman found himself longing for the connection the family had while watching the hanging of Ustath Rashid.
Suleiman is eventually forced to leave Tripoli and travel to Cairo. He objected the decision but was nonetheless sent. After fifteen years in Cairo, Suleiman grows to be a pharmacist, believing that he did so because of his mother's addiction to her own medications. After his father's passing, Najwa decides to travel to Cairo to see his son. Once they reunite, she adores as if they were never separated, and he realizes that despite all the political confusion and madness, they were still able to live.
Characters
*''Suleiman el Dewani'' - the nine-year-old narrator
*''Faraj el Dewani "Baba"'' - Suleiman's father
*''Najwa "Mama"'' - Suleiman's mother
*''Moosa'' - Baba's best friend
*''Nasser -'' Baba's office clerk
*''Kareem'' - Suleiman's next-door neighbour and best friend
*''Ustath Rashid'' - Kareem's father and a co-conspirator of Baba; he has already been arrested when the book's narrative begins
*''Sharief'' - a member of the Revolutionary Committee hunting Faraj el Dewani
World Book Club
''World Book Club'' is a radio programme on the BBC World Service. Each edition of the programme, which is broadcast on the first Saturday of the month with repeats into the following Monday, features a famous author discussing one of his or her ...