There is something haunting Nuhad’s childhood home in Haifa. Cats avoid its perimeter, strange noises come from within, and residents have mysteriously vanished without a trace. Although Nuhad has not returned to her home since the Nakba in 1948, she always held a place for the house in her heart.
And, in return, the house did the same for her.
After Nuhad passes away, her granddaughter, Marina, is determined to visit her grandmother’s home after a lifetime of being kept in the dark about her culture and family history. Marina’s mother, Haifa – named for the city that was lost to their family – reluctantly agrees to her trip, though she knows firsthand that some secrets are better left buried.
But the house is no longer a home. It is a painful, festering wound that infects everything it touches. The more Marina digs into her family’s past, the sicker she becomes. Despite Nuhad’s ghostly warnings, Haifa rushes to help her daughter.
As the three women converge in their ancestral home, they must put the haunting to rest before the secrets of the past drown them all.
I’ve been struggling with how to even start this review. Because I think OUR CUT OF SALT, Deena Helm’s debut horror novel about a Palestinian haunted house, is an incredibly important novel.
And I feel like oftentimes my reviews can be a bit…frivolous maybe?
Also, something I’m aware of is this weird separation (probably something I notice more than anyone) between my Bookstagram account and this blog. On Bookstagram, I am always sharing different things in my stories that lets people know where I stand politically. No one who follows me and pays me any attention whatsoever is confused about that. And I’m sure some of that spills over on my blog, but admittedly it’s different, and focused solely on books.
This is a roundabout way of saying it will always, always, always be Free Palestine from me. Also, to my embarrassment, there is so much about the history of Palestine & the events that are described in this book that I don’t know about. So any fumbling about/inaccuracies in this review are my own, and not a reflection on the book.
OUR CUT OF SALT is the story of three generations of Palestinian women, and the haunted house that binds them together.
The book takes place in two different timelines, back in the late 1940’s and then in 2002 (which is why the ongoing genocide in Palestine isn’t directly mentioned in the book).
In 2002, a young Palestinian American woman named Marina is fresh out of college & living with her mother, Haifa (she is named for the Palestinian city…this is occasionally confusing but is routinely acknowledged by the characters…I’ll try my best to make it clear in my review if I mean Haifa the person or Haifa the city). They are living in Chicago & Marina is struggling to find work. She’s struggling in general, just kind of slogging through life it seems, a little unsure of herself.
Marina’s grandmother, Nuhad, has recently passed away & Marina is going to Nazareth to collect her grandmother’s belongings from family. But Marina is harboring a not-so-secret hope: she wants to go to Haifa, to see Nuhad’s home, her city, where she grew up.
Haifa (Marina’s mom) is very reluctant to send Marina to Haifa (the city), which has been occupied by Zionists since the Nakba in 1948. But something changes, Haifa relents, and Marina makes her trip to Palestine.
The 1948 portions of the story follow Nuhad as a sixteen-year-old girl just trying to live a normal life in an increasingly volatile area. Palestinians are being removed from their homes, there’s terrible acts of violence being committed right outside Nuhad’s windows at night…it’s all so fucking heartbreaking. There’s this beautiful portrayal of Nuhad and her friend Rania (who is still alive and living in Haifa in 2002), just living their lives by the sea…they’re just kids. But their entire lives are about to be torn apart, and it’s so tough to read.
Tying these two different timelines together is, of course, a very haunted house. But this is not your typical haunted house novel, not by a long shot. This is a home that is desperate to reconnect with its people. A home that will violently reject anyone it sees as a threat.
All of the women in this story are so compelling, and you really get a sense of how their family’s history has impacted each person, one generation to the next. Like how Haifa struggles to let go a little with Marina, almost suffocating her with her protectiveness. It all comes from somewhere, and this book illustrates that beautifully.
There are scenes in OUR CUT OF SALT that are profoundly upsetting. I was so angry reading certain passages. And that’s for sure the point. But oof, there’s some really hard hitting, difficult moments here, so just take care when reading.
Everything about OUR CUT OF SALT is remarkable, and it’s just a stunning debut novel. One of the best & most important horror novels of the year, without a doubt.
Many thanks to Nightfire for sending a copy my way!
