'An emotion-packed exploration of the impact of loss on identity. * Kirkus * 'A Palestinian American writer explores her winding path to motherhood amid the COVID crisis, braiding strands of memory into a shimmering tapestry.' * TIME * 'Alyans writing doesnt offer easy answers; it gives voice to the ache and beauty of diasporic existence.' * VOGUE Arabia * '[ A] lyrical memoir that explores the trauma of fractured identity.' * Los Angeles Times * 'Alyans prose captures the disjointed nature of grief and healing, exploring what it means to reconstruct ones identity while navigating the complexities of multiple cultures, bodies, and emotional boundaries.' * The Markaz Review * 'The long-awaited memoir of the Salt Houses author is not just a story of Palestinian displacement, but also an exploration of motherhood. In her deeply personal autobiography, Alyan shares painful experiences of miscarriages and infertility and ultimately her decision to use a surrogate. As much as it is her own life story, it is also the story of the women in her life: her mother and two grandmothers and their survival through endless war, displacement and exile.' * The New Arab * 'Ultimately, Alyan positions her journey as a powerful resistance to erasure - a way to reclaim a stolen past and secure a narrative for the new life she is about to bring into the world. Superb.' * Candid Book Club * No one knows the human heart like Hala Alyan. -- Mira Jacob, author of Good Talk Hala Alyan is a lyrical force, a much-needed Arab American voice. -- Etaf Rum, New York Times best-selling author of A Woman Is No Man When plumbing the intricacies of race and womanhood, Alyan turns paragraphs into poetry. -- The New York Times Book Review I dont exactly understand how Hala Alyan does itconjures love, sorrow, betrayal, and joy; goes from being funny and warm to incisive and thoughtfulbut as a reader, Im glad that she does -- Rumaan Alam, author of Leave the World Behind A story of the violence of exile over generations, a profound desire for motherhood, as well as surrogacy, addiction and the importance of remembering a story of war and loss of country, but also of friends, lovers and ultimately her marriage questioning and lyrical. -- The Guardian '[ A] gorgeous, lyrical memoir ... Ill Tell You When Im Home shows the power of even a single narrative to resist the deliberate erasure of a people and their homeland, the violence of colonisation.' * The New York Times * 'Alyans poetic prose encapsulates miles in each sentence and paragraph; joyfully, revisiting a passage is another chance at uncovering a new gift. Her nonfiction narrative voice allows the poet in her to shine, especially as each chapter is told in a series of short glimpses weaving together past and present, the old and the new Hala. ... With Ill Tell You When Im Home, Alyan has created a record, a story to communicate with those departed and those new to life. In the process, her work is an antidote for others searching for a home they never asked to lose.' * Chicago Review of Books * A poignant exploration of her tumultuous path to parenthood, identity, and displacement The memoir unfolds like the tale of Scheherazade from One Thousand and One Nights, where Hala becomes the waiting woman, reckoning with all the truths of her life before stepping into motherhood a stunning kaleidoscope of vignettes More than a story of motherhood and exile, Ill Tell You When Im Home is a testimony of everything at once a moving tribute to the strength of those forced from their homelands and ruthlessly exploited, as well as a celebration of womens determination to survive and thrive.' * New Arab *
