In the Country of Men

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In the Country of Men
Author	Hisham Matar
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre(s)	Novel
Publisher	Viking Press
Publication date	6 July 2006
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	256 pp (first edition, hardback)
ISBN	ISBN 978-0670916399 (first edition, hardback)

In the Country of Men is the debut novel from American, Libyan and British author Hisham Matar, first published in 2006 by Viking, an imprint of Penguin Books. It was nominated for the 2006 Man Booker Prize and the Guardian First Book Award. It has so far been translated into 22 languages and was awarded the 2007 Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize as well as a host of international literary prizes.

[edit] Plot summary

The books follows the plight of Suleiman, a nine-year-old boy living in Tripoli in Libya, after his father is forced to flee the family household by Gaddafi's state police due to his involvement in anti-State activities. The only people he has to turn to are his neighbour Kareem, his alcoholic mother, and his father's best friend Moosa.

[edit] Characters

Suleiman el Dewani - the nine-year-old narrator
Faraj el Dewani "Baba" - Suleiman's father
Najwa "Mama" - Suleiman's mother
Moosa - Baba's best friend
Kareem - Suleiman's next-door neighbour and best friend
Ustath Rashid - Kareem's father and a co-conspirator of Baba; he has already been arrested when the book's narrative begins
Sharief - a member of the Revolutionary Committee hunting Faraj el Dewani