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; register below. 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