6 Juicy Novels to Read Poolside
Slather sunscreen and dive into some of the most riveting
stories of the summer.
2 of 6
Salt Houses
By Hala Alyan
320 pages;
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Hala Alyan's sweeping debut novel is told in a
series of snapshots of the Yacoub family, beginning at the wedding of Alia and
Atef in Nablus in 1963, and concluding with the couple, now grandparents of four,
in present-day Beirut. In between, the Palestinian family is uprooted by the
Six-Day War and later by Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait. Scattered across
the Middle East and Europe, Alia, Atef and their siblings and
children must deal with the inheritance of displacement and the constant
longing for connection—all
of which Alyan depicts with understated beauty. "How many windows should
any person own?" Atef wonders late in his life, reflecting on the series
of homes his family inhabited over the years. They "glitter whitely in his
mind, like structures made of salt, before a tidal wave comes and sweeps them
away."
— Ruth Baron
Published 06/15/2017