Not As Good As It Ought To Have Been!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                      The novel's title unmasks an intriguing premise.  Like Lot's wife, who turns into a pillar of salt, the houses built by the Yacoub family, whose generations are covered over at least fifty years, are spiritual and philosophic, more than brick and mortar.  That is because, for this Palestinian family, even those who travel to Boston, Paris, and other faraway places, their spiritual home is always in Palestine.

                                     Through various characters--the rebellious Souad was my favorite--the reader experiences, with the Yacoub family, the Six Day War, the invasion by Saddam Hussein, and, of course, the fall of the Twin Towers on 9/11 2001.

                                     Each chapter is told from a different character's perspective, but some stand out more than others.  Souad, and Alia, who eventually succumbs to Alzheimer's, which is heartbreaking to read, are the most memorable, but the story reads like the author is trying to cram too much narrative into two short a space.  In some cases, the novel seems like a series of short stories strung together, instead of one narrative piece.

                                       Which is especially disappointing to me, who loves sagas.  More noted as a poet, Hala Alyah makes her first attempt at a novel here.  She needs more skill in painting on a larger canvass.

                                         Those who cannot escape this genre will read it, anyway. However, as a supreme example of the genre, I cannot, in good conscience, recommend it.

                                          Sorry, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!