The Land That Separates Them by Hisham Matar

Hisham MatarThe Land That SeparatesThe Land That SeparatesThe Land That Separates Hisham Matar was nineteen years old in 1990 when his father Jaballa, an opponent of the Libyan authoritarian regime, was kidnapped by the Egyptian secret services and imprisoned in his native country. The family received a few letters, sent secretly, until all correspondence ceased. Twenty-one years later, when Gaddafi fell, the detainees were freed by the people, but Jaballa remained untraceable.Hisham Matar investigated for years, from NGOs to embassies, going so far as to meet Mandela and Gaddafi's son. In this story dedicated to his father, he delivers the poignant story of his family and paints a subtle portrait of a Libya caught in the turmoil of the dictatorship. "A sumptuous story about fathers and sons, mourning, the role of art in understanding, exile." Marie-Laure Delorme, Le Journal du dimanche