Nuri is a young boy when his mother dies It seems that nothing will fill the emptiness that her strange death leaves behind in the Cairo apartment he shares with his father Until they meet Mona sitting in her yellow swimsuit by the pool of the Magda Marina hotel As soon as Nuri sees her the rest of the world vanishes But it is Nurirsquos father with whom Mona falls in love and whom she eventually marries And their happiness consumes Nuri to the point where he wishes his father would disappearNuri will however soon regret what he wished for His father long a dissident in exile from his homeland is taken under mysterious circumstances And as the world that Nuri and his stepmother share is shattered by events beyond their control they begin to realize how little they knew about the man they both lovedAnatomy of a Disappearance is written with all the emotional precision and intimacy that have won Hisham Matar tremendous international recognition In a voice that is delicately wrought and beautifully tender he asks When a loved one disappears how does their absence shape the lives of those who are left.
