Salt Houses

Written by Hala Alyan

Narrated by Leila Buck

From a dazzling new literary voice, a debut novel about a Palestinian family caught between present and past, between displacement and home On the eve of her daughter Alia's wedding, Salma reads the girl's future in a cup of coffee dregs. She sees an unsettled life for Alia and her children; she also sees travel, and luck. While she chooses to keep her predictions to herself that day, they will all soon come to pass when the family is uprooted in the wake of the Six-Day War of 1967. Salma is forced to leave her home in Nablus; Alia's brother gets pulled into a politically militarized world he can't escape; and Alia and her gentle-spirited husband move to Kuwait City, where they reluctantly build a life with their three children. When Saddam Hussein invades Kuwait in 1990, Alia and her family once again lose their home, their land, and their story as they know it, scattering to Beirut, Paris, Boston, and beyond. Soon Alia's children begin families of their own, once again navigating the burdens (and blessings) of assimilation in foreign cities. Lyrical and heartbreaking, Salt Houses is a remarkable debut novel that challenges and humanizes an age-old conflict we might think we understand-one that asks us to confront that most devastating of all truths: you can't go home again.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: May 2, 2017
• ISBN: 9781501946530

Hala Alyan

Hala Alyan is the author of the novel Salt Houses, winner of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize and the Arab American Book Award, and a finalist for the Chautauqua Prize. Her latest novel, The Arsonists’ City, was a finalist for the Aspen Words Literary Prize. She is also the author of five highly acclaimed collections of poetry, including The Twenty-Ninth Year. Her work has been published by The New Yorker, The Academy of American Poets, Literary Hub, The New York Times Book Review, and Guernica. She lives in Brooklyn with her family, where she works as a clinical psychologist and professor at New York University.

Reviews for Salt Houses

[fatema awami · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazing novel, heart breaking and real, unique but also the experience of every human who really lives

[castlelass · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

“He thinks of them, instinctively touching the soil again. All the houses they have lived in, the ibriks and rugs and curtains they have bought; how many windows should any person own? The houses float up to his mind’s eye like jinn, past lovers…. They glitter whitely in him mind, like structures made of salt, before a tidal wave comes and sweeps them away.” – Hala Alyan, Salt Houses

Salt Houses is a multi-generational family saga that shows how a family is changed by displacement. The Yacoub family moves from Israel to Palestine to Kuwait, Jordan, and Lebanon. Some family members find home in the United States for a while, others in France. Alyan explores the impact of war, exile, and separation on a family. It is a character-driven novel of people that feel fragmented due to multiple moves over time, losing pieces of their history and identity. For example, the younger family members are seen by society as Palestinian, though they have never lived there. They only know what their parents or grandparents have told them.

The chapters read almost like a series of short stories, focusing on different family members of all ages over a timespan of four generations. Alyan’s writing is elegant. The characters are well-developed and believable. The inter-generational disputes are particularly convincing. It focuses on interactions among family members, their marriages, disagreements, personality conflicts, and how they adapt to different homes. Recommended to those that enjoy stories of immigration, refugee experiences, or family dynamics.

[sriddell_8 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Multi-generation family saga. This book tells the story of a Palestinian family displaced repeatedly by war, starting in the 1960s and continuing well into the 21st century.

But throughout changes, moves, tragedies, and separations, this family continues to be connected through love and traditions, marriages and divorce, children and grandchildren. Beautifully written.

[bookmuse56 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Alyan crafts a beautiful story with well-drawn complex characters about the bonds of family, the trials of displacement, and the pain of the loss of the place called home.This family saga follows four generations of a Palestinian family starting in 1968 where they are currently been living in Nablus (West Bank) for fifteen years after being displaced from Jaffa. Due to their family’s wealth they avoided being placed in a refugee camp, but as political events constantly change in the region, family members find themselves living in Kuwait, Amman, Beirut, France, and America.The story revolves around eight main characters, and each chapter focuses on one of them. Often, we gain more insight on the other characters, than the one narrating. While the family lands on its feet with each move, the privilege that comes from money and connections, does not erase the trauma, prejudice, and discrimination that they experience for being Palestinian. This is a gripping narrative richly told with cultural and historical details written by a first rate storyteller.

[drfuriosa · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a family drama that is both global and relevant. It takes place in Palestine, Kuwait, Lebanon, Jordan, Paris, and Boston. It spans four generations from matriarch Salma, to her three children: Widad, Mustafa, and Alia. It opens the day before Alia's wedding and it unfolds over the next decades, from the Six Days War, to the Kuwait War, to anxieties after 9/11. It is beautifully written and engrossing for its attention to detail and depiction of characters. I would give this a solid 4.5, and I plan to include this in a future teaching rotation. I'm eager to see what Ms. Alyan writes next.

[deltaqueen50 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Salt Houses by Hala Alyan is a moving account about four generations of a Palestinian family and how they are scattered across the Middle East in an effort to find a place to belong and to be safe. The author delivers a very engrossing story that encompasses the displacement and dispersal of Palestinians woven into an epic tale of one family.The story unfolds in a series of stories about various individuals in the family and encompasses events from 1963 up to 2014. Some segments are more absorbing than others, and some characters grabbed my sympathy and attention more than others. One character that stood out for me was Atef, a flawed man both proud of his family but haunted by a past that involved his brother-in-law’s disappearance. I also enjoyed the contrast between his two daughters, Riham and Souad, one quietly religious while the other was out-spoken and stubborn.The author is a poet and this shows in her lyrical prose. While at times her writing felt a little flowery or over-blown, for the most part this was a powerful, heartfelt and layered story that captures Palestinian history with depth and emotion.

[nancyjcbs · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a beautifully written novel about the refugee experience of one family. The voices of four generations of Palestinians are presented.The story begins in Palestine in 1967. The Yacoub family was forced to leave their home in Jaffa so has settled in Nablus. The title of Salt Houses refers to their impermanence when new wars erupt. The family moves throughout the Middle East and to Europe and the United States. This family is not of the refugees we most often consider. They are fortunate to have family available in areas where they relocate. They have money and education to begin anew. Yet each move causes another sense of loss: the loss of home and stability, the loss of faith in the future.

[beckyhaase · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

SALT HOUSES by Hala AlyanThe meaning of the title is noted three fourth of the way through the book when the family patriarch, Atef, reminisces, “the houses glitter whitely…like structures made of salt before a tidal wave sweeps them away.” His family – 4 generations – leave behind houses as war follows them from Palestine, to Kuwait, Lebanon, Jordan, Boston, Manhattan and back to Lebanon. One of the daughters in trying to identify her heritage is at a loss. Is she Palestinian – she has never lived there. Is she Lebanese or Arab or Kuwaiti or……..And that is the essence of this tale. What is our heritage? Is it the place of our birth, where we live NOW, where we lived before, how do we define ourselves?Alyan describes loss and heartache in beautiful prose. Her characters live and breathe. The sense of place is palpable. Although this tale is specifically Palestinian, the rootlessness of the refugee is timeless and placeless. You will need the family tree at the beginning of the book to keep the generations straight. The time and place notations at the beginning of each chapter help the reader keep track of the family’s migrations and the time frame of the various wars and tragedies from just before the 6 Day War through the current Middle East uprisings.Lots for book groups to discuss here.5 of 5 stars

[thewanderingjew_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Salt Houses, Hala Alyan, author, Leila Buck, narratorI have both the print and audio version of this book. It is read well by the narrator who interpreted each character with the unique nuances each deserved. Each chapter is devoted to a specific character, as time passes. The lives of Palestinians who are ex-pats and the lives of those who have been forced to become nomadic because of the constant wars in so many of the Middle Eastern countries is explored in depth and with feeling, often with tenderness as well as incredulity. The author has only a few moments when she appears to be passing judgment on anyone or any country, but when she does, she usually only presents one side of the issue, emphasizing implied American involvement and/or Israeli atrocities, which I found as a shortcoming. Also, therefore, a lot was left up to the imagination when it came to who was the enemy and who was the victim, without giving the reader a fair rendering of the situation so a fair judgment could be made. The story about Mustafa could lead one to believe he was brutally abused in an Israeli prison, along with Atef, his brother-in-law, but with no proof or explanation of why, and there was no affirmation of whether or not the implication was true. I am not in favor of torture, but if my children were in danger, I would be in favor of it, if it would save them, so it is a difficult concept to wrap one’s head around. The why of the event was missing inspiring the reader to make a judgment which might be based on unfair information.Conflict has existed in the Middle East forever without adequate explanation of both sides of the issue, although there have been some books written that do a better job, they are not widely read so most people are grossly uninformed on this subject and just educated by headlines seeking to attract the most attention, not necessarily to relate a truthful picture of events, complete with cause and effect. There are reasons for the Middle East wars on both sides of the aisle, but they were not clearly explained in the book, rather the simple, normal lives of this Palestinian family over five decades is detailed as their homelands, religious practices and moral standards morphed into more western ways. Was this a good thing for them? It is hard to discern the author’s message since she rarely passed judgment on events or individuals, and seemed to give the events a cursory glance.As the years passed, from the mid sixties to the present, the absorption of the young people into more westernized cultures was presented without prejudice. Often, the Palestinians, sometimes called Arabs as if it was a curse, fit nowhere, because they had lost the place they would have called home. As they migrated to America and European countries, they picked up the prevailing habits and ways of life, some of which they preferred and some of which they realized was corrupting their culture, the fear many in the older generation and mosques voiced out loud. They had the choice to follow their origins or to discard some of its demands, and often, they picked and chose the customs that were more appealing. I wish the book had had a glossary since many of the Arabic words went over my head, and I would have liked to understand the meaning. I think I may have lost some of the message because of my inability to grasp the true intent of the author; however, she did a masterful job presenting the Palestinian, not as a warmonger but as a person who wished to survive amidst the constant turmoil. She has done what so many before have not been able to do. Although the author seems to have idealized some of the characters, she has also normalized the Palestinians and the plight of their lives.As the young and old lost both their country and their culture, one of the ancestors also lost her memory. This posed a stark counterpoint as one was involuntary and the other completely voluntary. Still the memories of the past reappeared in their thoughts contrasted with their ideas about their present lives and those thoughts were often not welcome. Special moments were remembered by each.. If the theme being pointed out was the danger and/or benefit of forgetting one’s roots, deliberately or by accident, it was done well. Each wanted to regain that special identity they had lost over the years with the destruction of their dreams, the loss of their property, the reduction of their ability to adhere to their religious convictions and the inability to retain as much of their culture as they would like because of events beyond their control, unrest and wars occurring frequently. They also wanted a bit of the frivolity of the other side of life they were exposed to in the foreign lands. Each time they moved, they had to adapt and so did their culture. These Palestinians were presented in the natural world, not as anomalies or enemies, but as upwardly mobile people who wanted what everyone wanted: peace, freedom, shelter, food, acceptance, love and happiness. In the end, we are all the same. We want our families to be safe and our lives to be rich with the appreciation of each other and the joy of being together.

[msf59 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

“The sea was like another member of the household, a recalcitrant child at times, a soothing aunt at others. She crooned them awake; she crooned them to sleep. Everywhere, there was the smell of salt.” “What is a life? A series of yeses and noes, photographs you shove in a drawer somewhere, loves you think will save you but that cannot. Continuing to move, enduring, not stopping even when there is pain. That’s all life is, he wants to tell her. It’s continuing.” A multi-generational story of a family in the Middle East. A Palestinian family constantly in motion, displaced by various wars, moving from Nablus, to Kuwait City, Paris and Boston, with other stops in between, all yearning for a stationary, but elusive homeland. The narrative shifts between different family members, through the decades, giving the reader a full perspective of how this dislocation molds each character. This is an impressive debut. The author is also a poet and this becomes apparent in her lyrical prose. She is also a fine storyteller and I am all ready looking forward to seeing what she does next.

[shazjhb · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It could have been a great book. Not sure how you can write a book about moderate Muslims and not discuss the issue of terrorism. This would have been a great opportunity. Only mention briefly 911 but that is it.

[linda.marsheells · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

SALT HOUSES is a story of family first and foremost. The nationality could be ANY, but this one happens to be middle-eastern. It's a mutl-generational story yes, but the story flows so seamlessly that the blending of them goes un-noticed! Keep in mind as you read that this is a work of fiction. Do not waste time picking apart details etc even if a few may be incorrect , totally unnecessary." Continuing to move, enduring, not stopping even when there is pain. That's all life is. It's continuing."

[beamis12 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

4.5 I have thought about this book on and off for the last day or so. Such a wonderful family, displaced people, living in countries not of their birth. Displaced by war, in Iraq, Kuwait, Arabs who try to find a home. We follow this family through generations, chapters devoted to different family members and my favorite from the beginning was Atef. This man who marries Alia, a woman he loves very much, but he is consumed by so much guilt, a quiet man who has so much hope in his family, their lives. This family will eventually be dispersed, some in Paris, Boston, Lebanon, a family divided by circumstances often beyond their control. They are though luckier than many as they have the money to relocate, not having to live in tents in a refugee camp.What I was thinking though was how hard it is to live in a country you are unfamiliar with, to heaving to adjust again and again, to, watch your children settle elsewhere. That they only want what we all want, a home, safety, their children close, a place where they are wanted, belong. They worry over their children, their marriages, what they will eat, they laugh, cry, get angry, are sad when they cannot connect with their family. Lastly, some pass on and some get sick, but in the end family is family and so it proves in this story. Yes, it is indeed a story but very real too I believe, honest and thoughtful and about a subject the author herself knows well. Indeed these people are like is and I can't help thinking that if people would pay more attention to the things that make us the same instead of the things that make us different, that just maybe there would not be these constant wars. naïve probably, but as you can see this book gave me much to think about.ARC from publisher.

[texicanwife_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A beautifully written story. Alyan tells a heart wrenching story of love and loss during war. The immigration of this multi-generational family from around 1950 to present day, and the changes this family must endure. A wonderful story that takes many twists and turns.Well written, Aylan is a great storyteller that will touch your heart, and bring you insight into political and terror immigration. Prepare to cry, to laugh, and to feel the love as only a family can.I give this novel Five Stars and a big Thumbs Up!