Conville & Walsh Ltd

IN THE COUNTRY OF MEN
Hisham Matar
Shortlisted for the 2006 Booker Prize
Longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award
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Conville & Walsh Ltd
Fiction
A poignant story of a child exposed too early to the brutalities of Libyan politics
– J.M. Coetzee
IN THE COUNTRY OF MEN understands that love - despite betrayal, grief, mistrust, rage, political terror -
nevetheless remains love
– Anne Michaels, author of FUGITIVE PIECES
A coming-of-age story, IN THE COUNTRY OF MEN is narrated by Sulieman, nine years old and living
peacefully in a Tripoli neighbourhood with his mother and father. But in Libya during the late 1970s
Qaddafi is known less as a revolutionary liberator and more as a cold-blooded dictator. Sulieman’s
father, a successful merchant, is often away on business. During these periods his mother drinks
heavily and tells Suleiman stories about how she was married as a teenager, against her will. It is at
those moments that Sulieman thinks that he can protect his mother and save her from her ‘illness’.
When the family’s neighbour is taken by the secret police, Sulieman discovers that the student-led
revolt is closer to home than he was led to believe by his parents. Soon thereafter his father is taken,
with disastrous consequences for his family and their friends.
In an Arab country governed by stifling religious traditions and an oppressive dictatorship, this is the
story of a family coming face to face with its own powerlessness in the world. Hisham Matar’s real
achievement here is the restraint and humanity of his writing, something that is at once both powerful
and moving.
Hisham Matar was born in New York in 1970 to Libyan parents and spent his childhood first in
Tripoli and then in Cairo. He has lived in London since 1986 and is currently at work on his second
novel.
UK Publisher Viking
US Publisher Dial Press/Random House
UK Publication 6 July 2006
Length 245 pages
Agent KCS
All rights available excluding UK & Commonwealth, US, Arab (Dar Al-Muna), Brazil (Companhia das Letras),
Canada (Penguin), Catalan (RBA), Croatia (Algoritam), Denmark (Gyldendal), France (Denoël), Germany
(Bertelsmann/Goldman), Iceland (JPV), Israel (Keter), Italy (Einaudi), Japan (Poplar), Netherlands (Meulenhoff),
Norway (Cappelen), Portugal (Civilizacao Editora), Slovenia (Ucila International), Spain (Salamandra), Slovenia
(Ucilia International), Sweden (Forum)
Offers pending: Turkey
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