The Libyan

Book excerpt: THE LIBYAN is a captivating memoir sweeping four continents and several decades on a journey of passion, terror, and betrayal. It puts a face on the lives and culture of Libya and Libyans during the early years of the ruthless dictator, Muammar Ghaddafi. It is the story of Kamal, a reluctant member of Ghaddafi's inner circle, and his American wife, bound together by passion and fate. When they return to begin a new life in Libya, they find themselves in a country terrorized by random arrests and public hangings. Driven by his longing for a better Libya, Kamal struggles to survive politically, while his wife lives in fear of her husband being arrested or killed. As Ghaddafi transformed the richest nation in Africa into the most repressed and brutalized country in the Arab world, Kamal battles to realize his dream for Libya's future, but soon becomes a target of the dreaded secret police. Forced to leave his beloved Libya and hunted by rogue CIA and Libyan agents in the United States, he joins a group of elite Libyan dissidents to establish the most powerful of all the opposition parties, the National Front for the Salvation of Libya. In the end, The Libyan has to choose between the woman he loves and his obsession to overthrow Ghaddafi. ""Kofod is a brilliant observer of detail and perceptive in her descriptions of character... Her love for Libya is evident and she presented a vivid account of its modern history through the eyes of Lina and Kamal." -Libya TV (English)" ""The Libyan offers a unique perspective on living under one of the worst dictatorships of the 20th century...Kofod fluently weaves a tale of romance with her own observations of Libya to produce this gripping novel." -Tripoli Post, Libya" ""Ms. Kofod has a strong voice and a heck of a story which she tells with integrity and feeling." -Ethan Chorin, Author Translating Libya"