Hala Alyan's 'Salt Houses' book reading

Hala Alyan explores the effects of forced immigration in Salt Houses, her novel chronicling the distress of one family through various members’ perspectives. The novel begins in Palestine in 1963 when a wedding prophecy predicts a future that will include travel. Through war, conflict and marriage, the family is uprooted to Kuwait, Beirut, Boston and beyond, as Alyan maps six decades of displacement. The book highlights the psychological effects of diaspora as the characters reckon with their inability to return home. Flee to Brookline Booksmith to hear from Alyan on Aug. 21. / Hadley Goodman