The Last Friend

In a repressive society, friendship can be more lifeline than trifle. That is the case in this Tahar Ben Jelloun novel set in Morocco starting in the 1950s. When school chums Ali and Mamed are thrown into a military re-education camp for some harmless dissident activity, a 30-year friendship is born. The story is told from both sides and from a third party. Jelloun manages to illuminate the specific (political and social life in Morocco) and the universal (the foundations of friendship, or love).