book cover for The Return by Hisham Matar

International Book Group – The Return by Hisham Matar

The International Book Group at West Falmouth Library is a volunteer-led group that meets on the first Wednesday of each month 3:45-5 p.m. Selections have either foreign settings or foreign authors, usually both. New members are always welcome! Annual registration is requested to receive important communications about schedule or location changes. Meetings are both in-person and on Zoom.

Register Here

“[An] eloquent memoir . . . at once a suspenseful detective story about a writer investigating his father’s fate . . . and a son’s efforts to come to terms with his father’s ghost, who has haunted more than half his life by his absence.”—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

“A masterful memoir, a searing meditation on loss, exile, grief, guilt, belonging, and above all, family. It is, as well, a study of the shaping—and breaking—of the bonds between fathers and sons. . . . This is writing of the highest quality.”The Sunday Times (U.K.)

The discussion schedule is as follows:

9/3/2025 Out of Darkness, Shining Light Petina Gappah Africa
10/1/2025 Miss Benson’s Beetle Rachel Joyce New Caledonia
11/5/2025 The Palace of Illusions Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni India
12/3/2025 The Sand Child Tahar Ben Jelloun Morocco
1/7/2026 The Green Road Anne Enright Ireland
2/4/2026 Midaq Alley Najīb Maḥfūẓ Cairo
3/4/2026 Birnam Wood Eleanor Catton New Zealand
4/1/2026 Infinite Country Patricia Engel Colombia
5/6/2026 The Return: Fathers, Sons, and the Land In Between Hisham Matar Cairo
6/3/2026 Hurricane Season Fernanda Melchor Mexico

 

Date

May 06 2026

Time

3:45 pm

Location

West Falmouth Library
575 West Falmouth Highway, Falmouth, MA 02540

Organizer

Becky Kanaley
Phone
508-548-4709
Email
becky@westfalmouthlibrary.org