My Friends

My Friends (2024) is a work of literary fiction by Hisham Matar. My Friends traces the story of the protagonist and first-person narrator, Khaled Abd al Hady. After saying goodbye to his friend Hosam Zowa in London one night, Khaled wanders the city streets and reflects on his past. His retrospective musings transport him back to his youth in Libya and to his conflicted response to the 2011 Arab Spring. Khaled’s complex internal experience launches the novel’s explorations of Personal Versus Political Identity, The Entanglement of Past and Present, and The Enduring Bonds of Friendship. Matar’s other titles include In the Country of Men, Anatomy of a Disappearance, The Return, and A Month in Siena. Matar won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for The Return and the 2006 Guardian First Book Award for his debut novel In the Country of Men. My Friends won the 2024 Orwell Prize for Political Fiction.

This guide uses the 2024 Penguin Random House hardback edition of the novel.

Content Warning: The novel includes descriptions of gun violence and torture.

Plot Summary

The novel opens in 2016 London, England. The first-person narrator, Khaled Abd al Hady, has lived here since 1983 when he left his home in Benghazi, Libya. One night, his old friend Hosam Zowa comes to visit him in the city. Hosam has been living in Libya for the past five years and is on his way to San Francisco, where he, his wife Malak, and daughter Angelica are moving. He and Khaled spend the evening catching up. Then Khaled walks with Hosam to King’s Cross Station and says goodbye. He watches as Hosam disappears into the crowd and considers chasing after him. He finally follows Hosam, but doesn’t end up calling out to him.

Khaled leaves the station and spends the rest of the night wandering the London streets and reflecting on his past life. Khaled is walking throughout the entirety of the novel. All of the narrative flashbacks are inspired by Khaled’s observations of various sites around the city.

In 1980, Khaled was still living with his family in Benghazi. One day, they heard a reporter reading Hosam Zowa’s short story, “The Given and the Taken,” on the BBC Arabic World Service. In the story, a man lies down and does nothing as his cat eats him. Khaled was disturbed and mesmerized by the tale. His father Ustath Kamal Abde al Hady (Kamal) was similarly enamored and began researching Hosam’s past. He soon discovered that Hosam lived abroad, but grew up not far from Khaled’s family’s home. Kamal also learned that Hosam’s family had a controversial political past.

Over the next three years, Khaled developed a love for literature and learning. He then enrolled in the university of Edinburgh. After leaving home, he was immediately immersed in his new life in Edinburgh, where he met and befriended another Libyan student, Mustafa al Touny.

In 1984, Khaled and Mustafa decided to attend a demonstration at the Libyan embassy in London. They saw their participation as a way to support their country and the increasing resistance to the Qaddafi regime. At the demonstration, shots suddenly rang out and both Khaled and Mustafa were injured. Khaled fled the scene, making no effort to find his friend. They later reunited in the hospital, where they were both recovering from surgeries.

Khaled’s friend Rana Lamesse contacted him and warned him not to return to Edinburgh, as dissent was circulating against the demonstrators. She offered him her family’s flat in London and visited him regularly. Khaled meanwhile felt stuck. He was paranoid that members of the regime would find and kidnap him. He couldn’t return to school and couldn’t go home to Libya. Finally, with the help of his teacher and mentor Professor Henry Walbrook, Khaled decided to start his life over again in London. He found his own flat in Shepherd’s Bush, secured a job, and enrolled at Birkbeck College, where he continued his literary studies.

Meanwhile, Khaled stopped communicating with his family as frequently. He feared that the regime would harm them if they knew of his involvement in the demonstration. He was also convinced that his letters were being censored and his calls were being tapped. He drew away from his parents and sister and tried focusing on his life in London. Eventually he graduated from college and began a career in teaching.

In 1995, Khaled traveled to Paris to be with Rana while she underwent brain surgery. He took care of her and kept her secret the way she had done for him 11 years prior. Meanwhile, Khaled enjoyed exploring Paris. Then one day, he discovered that the hotel concierge was in fact Hosam Zora, and the two began spending time together.

Hosam started visiting Khaled whenever he was in London to see his girlfriend Claire. He eventually left his life in Paris and rented a flat next door to Khaled in Shepherd’s Bush. This became one of the happiest times of Khaled’s life, as he loved being able to spend so much time with his friend.

Over the years, unrest grew in Libya. In 2010 and 2011, Mustafa and Hosam became increasingly worried about the political climate in Benghazi and independently decided to return to Libya to join the revolution. Although his friends urged him to join, Khaled remained in England. He followed reports of the Arab Spring in the newspaper, on the radio, and on social media, but couldn’t get himself to buy the tickets to return home.

In the present, Khaled visits St. James’s Square for the first time since the embassy shooting. He reflects on how this event impacted him and considers how his life would’ve been different if he’d never attended or if he’d joined the revolution. He walks back to Shepherd’s Bush. He tells himself he’ll eventually return to Libya to see his family. However, he knows that what he really wants to do is to be home at his Shepherd’s Bush flat. He arrives, cleans up the kitchen, and makes his bed.