---
product_id: 41123382
title: "The Return (Pulitzer Prize Winner): Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between"
price: "$61"
currency: NZD
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 8
url: https://www.desertcart.nz/products/41123382-the-return-pulitzer-prize-winner-fathers-sons-and-the-land
store_origin: NZ
region: New Zealand
---

# The Return (Pulitzer Prize Winner): Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between

**Price:** $61
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** The Return (Pulitzer Prize Winner): Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between
- **How much does it cost?** $61 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.nz](https://www.desertcart.nz/products/41123382-the-return-pulitzer-prize-winner-fathers-sons-and-the-land)

## Best For

- Customers looking for quality international products

## Why This Product

- Free international shipping included
- Worldwide delivery with tracking
- 15-day hassle-free returns

## Description

The Return (Pulitzer Prize Winner): Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between [Matar, Hisham] on desertcart.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Return (Pulitzer Prize Winner): Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between

Review: Stunningly Brilliant - Heart-ful story written with aplomb. This is a gifted writer with a story that has now been told. It needs to be rested.
Review: Very Good Book....Well-Told - I decided to buy this book based on an NPR radio interview with the author that I heard soon after the book's release. He had such a wonderful speaking voice and delivery that it made me want to buy the book thinking and hoping that his prose would be as beautiful. It is. In addition, having lost my own father when I was barely 21 (although in much less complicated conditions than the author's), any story about fathers and sons always will catch my interest. In the end I couldn't give this a 5-star rating. Something was missing and I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Perhaps it is that, while I can relate to the issue of a lost father and memories, I am not muslim or from the African continent...nor am I a political exile. Therefore, I couldn't relate completely to the author's pain and resolve. What I did get was a good education on Libya, of which I know only what I've seen in the news for the past 30 years. I learned more than I knew about Qaddafi's brutality and of the life of exiles throughout the continent and Europe. The prose is very nice and easy to read....sometimes too easy. I found myself going back to re-read some passages because I had a feeling I might have missed something beautiful or revealing. That was the case more often than I am proud to admit. The author was very successful in putting the reader---at least me---in a situation in which I pictured my father, my family and me in the same situation. It wasn't a pleasant feeling, but it wasn't meant to be. Many of us are very lucky just because we were born in a free country. This book will make you think of how lucky those people are indeed and just how un-lucky many others are. Overall, I recommend this book as a pleasant, informative, powerful and educational read that will make the reader reflect. It doesn't resolve as clearly as I had hoped, but it is not hard to suppose what happened after the book's end.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #29,142 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #7 in African Politics #17 in Middle Eastern Politics #406 in Memoirs (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.3 out of 5 stars 4,390 Reviews |

## Images

![The Return (Pulitzer Prize Winner): Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81AyNoI7JrL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Stunningly Brilliant
*by A***S on May 26, 2025*

Heart-ful story written with aplomb. This is a gifted writer with a story that has now been told. It needs to be rested.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Very Good Book....Well-Told
*by R***. on August 10, 2016*

I decided to buy this book based on an NPR radio interview with the author that I heard soon after the book's release. He had such a wonderful speaking voice and delivery that it made me want to buy the book thinking and hoping that his prose would be as beautiful. It is. In addition, having lost my own father when I was barely 21 (although in much less complicated conditions than the author's), any story about fathers and sons always will catch my interest. In the end I couldn't give this a 5-star rating. Something was missing and I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Perhaps it is that, while I can relate to the issue of a lost father and memories, I am not muslim or from the African continent...nor am I a political exile. Therefore, I couldn't relate completely to the author's pain and resolve. What I did get was a good education on Libya, of which I know only what I've seen in the news for the past 30 years. I learned more than I knew about Qaddafi's brutality and of the life of exiles throughout the continent and Europe. The prose is very nice and easy to read....sometimes too easy. I found myself going back to re-read some passages because I had a feeling I might have missed something beautiful or revealing. That was the case more often than I am proud to admit. The author was very successful in putting the reader---at least me---in a situation in which I pictured my father, my family and me in the same situation. It wasn't a pleasant feeling, but it wasn't meant to be. Many of us are very lucky just because we were born in a free country. This book will make you think of how lucky those people are indeed and just how un-lucky many others are. Overall, I recommend this book as a pleasant, informative, powerful and educational read that will make the reader reflect. It doesn't resolve as clearly as I had hoped, but it is not hard to suppose what happened after the book's end.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Life Under A Tyrant Strongman
*by G***N on October 1, 2025*

Hisham Matar’s, The Return, is neither a straightforward autobiography, nor a neat chronicle of Libya under tyranny. It merits reading for two reasons. First, it does provide detailed sketches of what life was like under Gaddafi. Second, it is a testament to the power of a son’s love for his father. I’m going to focus on the former. Libya, for good or ill, is not much written about in the United States and, when it is mentioned, the news is almost always bad, if not tragic. First and foremost, there’s Lockerbie, and more recently, the fact that a former President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, has been charged with taking funds from Libya in exchange for political favors.) There can be no doubt that Libyans suffered under a tyrannical regime while Gaddafi ruled. One of the great attributes of Mr. Matar’s text is that he takes readers deep inside the fascist state and exposes its many crimes. Surely, one of the saddest stories I’ve read anywhere is Matar’s account of a mother who, every year for five years, visited the prison in Tripoli where she understood her son to be held. She was never permitted to see her son, but the guards assured her that the meals she cooked and the gifts she brought would be delivered to him. Without fail, they encouraged her to return and wished her better luck next time. And, return she did, year after year, not knowing that her son had been dead all those years. Matar has a great eye for detail and a novelist’s ability to capture that detail in prose. In my experience, books like this don’t come around that often. Readers ought to take advantage of it.

## Frequently Bought Together

- The Return (Pulitzer Prize Winner): Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between
- James: A Novel
- My Friends: A Novel

---

## Why Shop on Desertcart?

- 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016
- 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories
- 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price
- 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members)
- 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection
- ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews

**Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.nz/products/41123382-the-return-pulitzer-prize-winner-fathers-sons-and-the-land](https://www.desertcart.nz/products/41123382-the-return-pulitzer-prize-winner-fathers-sons-and-the-land)

---

*Product available on Desertcart New Zealand*
*Store origin: NZ*
*Last updated: 2026-02-22*