Summary

Responding to a “strange attachment to Ajdabiya,” Matar decides to pay the city a visit once more before leaving Libya (220). For the first time, he was to meet his Uncle Hmad, who was imprisoned along with Matar’s father and Uncle Mahmoud. He recalls seeing a photograph of his family members upon their release, in which he noticed “something was off” (221). Matar learned what that something was when he met his cousin Ali days before his return to Libya. Ali told Matar one of Seif’s undisclosed terms of release; the men were forced to sign “a formal apology for ever having opposed the Great Leader” (223).

Matar recalls being excited to talk to Uncle Hmad and he, “in turn, was eager to share his recollections” (224). He was equally as eager, as most relatives had been thus far, to express his love of and...