The demarcation line between "classic literary themes" and "plain old clichés" is sometimes so tenuous as to be practically non-existent. This is what I found myself thinking upon finishing "Anatomy of a Disappearance".

The protagonist of Hisham Matar's second novel (after the Booker-nominated [b:In the Country of Men|63657|In the Country of Men|Hisham Matar|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1386925450s/63657.jpg|2425175]) is Nuri, the son of an ex-minister of an unnamed Middle Eastern country who has lived in exile in Paris and then Egypt ever since that country's "beloved king" was deposed in the late 60s. At the age of 12 years, Nuri loses his mother to a mysterious illness. Two years later, tragedy strikes again when his father is abducted in Switzerland, presumably by his political enemies, an event which indelibly marks the boy's life.

This is a coming-of-age novel narrated, predictably, by the protagonist's older, wiser self. The plot features, surprise surprise, a young woman who acts as catalyst for Nuri's sexual awakening. This is Mona, Nuri's twenty-something flirtatious stepmother. So we have, in one broad stroke, the age-old love triangle, with an Oedipal complex thrown into the mix. In complete contrast to Mona stands Naima, the loyal, faithful servant who doubles as the narrator's surrogate mother.

It has become fashionable for literary novels to incorporate popular, populist elements - in this case, the dissident's disappearance gives the plot a thriller-cum-mystery element. Many narrative threads however remain unresolved, a de rigueur approach for any novelist wishing to maintain highbrow credentials.

An underwhelming and unresolved plot, a narrator who is not particularly likeable - what is it then that makes this flawed novel a worthwhile read? For me, it is Matar's undeniable mastery of language, which makes an otherwise unassuming book blossom into flowing, poetic prose. Take the title - in four words and just two nouns, Matar contrasts the themes of physical presence and loss, whilst hinting at the novel's underlying eroticism and the mystery at its heart. The book is rich with such images and hidden delights which make up for the "clichéd" thematic and narrative elements. ( )

Quiet. Contemplating. ( )

Libyia, Memoir, Father ( )

This is a mannerly constrained small novel about one boy’s three mothers and only father, all of them unknown quantities to the child they parent. It is about the deceit that can be perpetrated among a cabal of cooperation. It is about the strength of father-son relationships that can persist even in the father’s absence and about the delusions and self-deception the very young hold onto about their parents even when they can stand on their own.

10-year-old Cairene, Nuri el-Alfi, loses his mother to an apparent suicide. It is his nurse, a family servant, who fills the maternal role during his mother's emotional inaccessibility and following her death. Nuri reaches his teens before his father marries a young woman, Mona, whom Nuri adores. His adoration becomes Oedipal. Some years later, he and Mona are in Paris, expecting his father to join them for a vacation while Nuri is on break from his English boarding school. Here they learn that his father has been abducted from a woman's apartment in Geneva where Nuri's father had been, apparently conducting his endless political business.

For the next 10 years, Nuri makes efforts to find out what happened to his father as he completes his education and fulfills his father's ambitions for him. Inexorably, the day comes when he learns the truth about his father and about someone else. But can Nuri accept these revelations? Matar ends his book in ambiguity.

Matar is a master of tone, of lean prose, of tender consideration of his characters, and of creating an atmosphere of inevitability that is characteristic of Greek tragedy, a form this novel obviously resembles. An excellent novel by the author of In the Country of Men. ( )

Incredibly beautiful writing and a heart-breaking work. Yet I was left with several unanswered questions when I finished this novel, and even those that were answered I didn't feel entirely satisfied with. An entirely worthwhile read, but be aware that this is a book you'll value more for the writing than the story. ( )