My Friends: A Novel

My Friends by Hisham Matar

A man from Benghazi, Libya leaves home to go study in the UK. While there, a friend encourages him to go down to a protest at the Libyan embassy. They are shot at from within the embassy, and he survives a a significant chest shooting. This upends his life. He hides the details from his parents and spends time in London. He later transfers to a school there and keeps the details hidden to not risk he or his family's lives. He expects government spies to be present and eager to find out who the protestors were. He does not return home for decades. He does eventually get asylum in Britain and communicates with family. They don't learn the truth until much later. The book comes to a conclusion with the fall of Gaddafi and the Arab Spring.

The other "friends" involved include one that becomes a political activist and others that have seemingly more mundane lives with various challenges (like cancer). The book is an interesting look at Libyan and immigrants lives.