Novelist Hala Alyan Explores Family Displacement

Hala Alyan was 4 years old when Sadaam Hussein invaded Kuwait. Her family packed up what they could, and left their home. In the years that followed, her family moved over a dozen times between the middle east and the U.S.

As Alyan grew up, and tried to process the chaos and constant moving, she started to write. Now, she's published her first novel, "Salt Houses" following a Palestinian family grappling with the ramifications of being displaced by war.

Hala Alyan will be discussing her novel "Salt Houses" at the Harvard Book Store Wednesday night.

Hala Alyan, writer and clinical psychologist. Her debut novel is called "Salt Houses." Her collection of poetry "Atrium" won the Arab American Book Award in 2013.