SAMIR EL-YOUSSEF IN THE FINANCIAL TIMES

The Illusion of Return Book Review

Saturday 6 January 2007
Financial Times Magazine

From the widely acclaimed co-author of Gaza Blues, comes The Illusion of Return, Samir El-Youssef's debut novel in English.  An unnamed narrator meets up with his long-lost friend Ali at Heathrow airport after 17 years.  At the unexpected reunion he recalls "one fateful night" and the tragedies that led to his departure from Lebanon.

As El-Youssef ekes out his take of Lebanon's fragmented and war-torn history, he borrows from a highly charged political climate that colours friendships and family.  Relationships are enshrouded by the secrets that bind people together - and also prise them apart.

Politics and religion are to the fore, but behind this personal take on Lebanon's turbulent history is a more subtle narrative of secrecy, intrigue, personal loss and grief.  Alternating between philosophical debate and political theory, the narrator references Descartes and Marx to question dogma and bridge "the gap between our social and political lives".  El-Youssef's "chaotic dream" is strained by its tone of obvious reticence - but this is a stirring book when it successfully captures nuances of nostalgia, and the urge to suppress it.  
                                                                                                                              Alexandra Hamlyn
                                                         
         



© 2007 Financial Times


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