Reviews

Häuser aus Sand by Hala Alyan

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beyreads's review against another edition

emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Imagine not having fully processed and recovered from one war only to be faced with another war and invasion, though from the sidelines, but still close in proximity. Well, same, I could not imagine it either so that is why reading stories like this is important so one can empathise with the victims of the war—or slaughter.

Salt Houses tells the tale of 3 generations of a Palestinian family who survived one war after the other—along with how they react to the war and cope with the aftermath of the war. It explores the complicated family dynamic, kinship, parenthood, and beliefs of the family.

Each character has their own flaws and dimensions and I loved the book for it. In the Q&A, the author explained that she wanted to abandon the “good immigrant” trope in this book, and that is what made this book feels so realistic and made the characters humane.

alexcavanaugh's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A beautiful journey that makes the reader feel the impact that war has on innocent people. I think every American needs to read a novel like this, to understand how far reaching the trauma caused by diaspora is. I was expecting there to be many passages of death and violence, and was surprised that, over the course of the novel, only one member of the family is directly killed by an armed conflict. Yet, that death affects everyone in the family irreparably, and is still present even three generations down. Similarly, the loss of homeland and feeling of waywardness never leaves either.

The novel follows an economically privileged family, but I think it does a good job acknowledging the suffering of those less fortunate without diluting the plot. The lives of the rich and poor are intertwined during conflict, until they aren't. We see desperate migrant workers abandoned by their employers, despite the sacrifices they made for them until that point. It is cruel and heartbreaking and real, and I was glad Alyan did not shy away from pointing out that, even as the main family struggled with loss and grief, there were innumerably more people in worse situations trying to survive.

I was not surprised to learn the author is both a poet and a psychologist. The members of the Yacoub family feel vividly real in their flaws and emotions. Watching the members change over the decades feels like a run through of the range of the human experience, not all of which in the novel is related to conflict in the Middle East. The mother-daughter conflicts, leading to the daughters having a revelation about themselves or their mothers years down the line, really resonated for me, as my friends and I all come to terms with our personal generational traumas. My heart broke for Alia, stricken with Alzheimer's, as she longed for another conversation with her mother, whom had been dead for decades.

I would highly recommend this to all readers.

titalindaslibrary's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

brim010's review against another edition

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emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

sagittariusreads_'s review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

noranaziz's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

final rating: 4.25 stars

so, so beautiful. i want to inject this book into my veins; breathe in its scent, palestine and kuwait and lebanon, into my lungs, to never forget its gentle presence.
salt houses was my companion for a while, during this long month of witnessing the atrocities being inflicted upon my brothers and sisters in palestine. i will miss it. <3