Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE IN BIOGRAPHY
WINNER OF THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION
SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARD
SHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FOR AUTOBIOGRAPHY
WINNER OF THE SLIGHTLY FOXED BEST FIRST BIOGRAPHY PRIZE
ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES' TOP 10 BOOKS OF 2016

The Return is at once a universal and an intensely personal tale. It is an exquisite meditation on how history and politics can bear down on an individual life. And yet Hisham Matar's memoir isn't just about the burden of the past, but the consolation of love, literature and art. It is the story of what it is to be human.

Hisham Matar was nineteen when his father was kidnapped and taken to prison in Libya. He would never see him again. Twenty-two years later, the fall of Gaddafi meant he was finally able to return to his homeland. In this moving memoir, the author takes us on an illuminating journey, both physical and psychological; a journey to find his father and rediscover his country.


What a brilliant book. The Return reads as easily as a thriller, but is a story that will stick; a person is lost but gravity and resonance remain (Hilary Mantel)

It is likely to become a classic. (Colm Tóibín)

A total work of art. It reminded me of Solzhenitsyn. It is of the same importance. I love it. (James Rebanks)

Wise and agonizing and thrilling to read (Zadie Smith)

Bristles with arresting wisdom (Jeremy Paxman)

A treasure for the ages (Peter Carey)

Tremendously powerful (Nadeem Aslam)

A magnificent memoir of exile and loss (Rawi Hage)

One of the essential books of our times (Adam Foulds)

A profound and powerful meditation on love, loss and exile (Sunday Express)