Book Review: In the Country of Men

In the Country of Men, by Hisham Matar
The setting of this novel is Libya, the author's homeland, in the year 1979, during Gaddafi's totalitarian regime. The nine-year-old narrator, Suleiman, is an only child enjoying summer vacation, but bewildered by what is happening around him. A neighborhood friend's father is arrested and executed on TV. His own father is threatened and his mother seeks solace in her "medicine." Deeply troubled, Suleiman becomes angry and commits acts of betrayal that haunt him. This is a sad and beautifully told story of the effects such a regime can have on the young in any country. --Mary B.