In the Country of Men

Outline

In the Country of Men (2006) is Hisham Matar’s debut novel, set in Tripoli in 1979. Nine-year-old Suleiman watches his family live in fear as his father becomes involved in opposition to the regime and people around them begin to disappear. Told through a child’s eyes, the novel explores loyalty, betrayal, and the effects of fear on family life, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

• The novel is Hisham Matar's debut, published in 2006 and set in Tripoli in 1979.
• Nine-year-old Suleiman narrates, so readers see a harsh regime through a child's limited and anxious view.
• His father's involvement in opposition to the regime pushes the whole family into daily fear.
• People around the family begin to disappear, showing how political pressure reaches ordinary homes.
• The story explores loyalty, betrayal, and how fear changes family life and relationships.

Hisham Matar is a Libyan-British author born in New York in 1970 to Libyan parents. His father, a political dissident, was abducted in 1990 and disappeared, an experience that shapes much of his writing. His memoir The Return won the Pulitzer Prize in 2017.