In the Country of Men, by Hisham Matar

What is the coming-of-age age? Twelve? Thirteen? A Holden Caulfield-esque sixteen? The protagonist in Hisham Matar’s debut novel In the Country of Men is nine years old. Far from dealing with the pangs of adolescence. But the year is 1979 and the country is Libya. In that violent political climate most nine year olds were forced to grow up quickly. So despite the protagonist's young age this is most assuredly a coming-of-age novel.

The atmosphere and actions in the novel are immediate and tense. Children play familiar games in the dusty streets and then watch as a friend’s father is taken away in a car by unsmiling men with guns. A boy struggles to listen to the hushed whispers of his parents and wonders why his mom and family friend are burning his father’s books and papers. Interrogations, mock trials, and executions are televised. The boy watches wide-eyed and notices the details others miss; the gentle gestures of the hangman, the dark stain spreading on the hanging man's pants. And when the boy's parents send him to live in Egypt, he cannot understand that it is for his own good.

This novel gives an unflinching look at the brutality of Muammar Gaddafi's dictatorship. The details and descriptions are poignant and the novel is beautifully written. In the Country of Men is a moving and poetic portrait of both a confused child trying to comprehend the actions of adults and events of the changing world around him and an exiled adult trying to remember and come to terms with his past.