by Deena Helm
Tor Nightfire
9/22/2026, hardcover
SKU: 9781250434661
In this lyrical debut, three generations of Palestinian women must put the haunting of their ancestral home to rest, before the secrets of the past drown them all. Our Cut of Salt is a powerful and intimate look at what it means to make a home, to lose it, and to return, only to find it irrevocably changed.
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.
Reviews:
"A haunting story of loss, displacement, and the strength of perseverance across generations. Helm has written a powerful tale of past wrongs, unanswered injustice, and the ghosts of vengeance and healing they might unleash." -- P. Djèlí Clark, author of Ring Shout
"Devastating.... Our Cut of Salt rages and aches and demands your complete attention, recontextualizing the very notion of what a haunted house is, positioning itself alongside such modern marvels of horror as Alison Rumfitt's Tell Me I'm Worthless and Tananarive Due's The Good House." -- Clay McLeod Chapman, author of Wake Up and Open Your Eyes
"Gut-wrenching and beautiful....This story of Palestinian mothers and daughters resonates with profound loss and longing. Our Cut of Salt is a novel of severance and grief that speaks to our blood-darkened times." -- Ausma Zehanat Khan, author of Blood Betrayal and The Unquiet Dead
About the Author:
Deena Helm is a mixed Palestinian-American author, and Our Cut of Salt is her debut novel. Her other works can be found in Fikra Magazine and So To Speak. She asks that you, the reader, do everything in your power to resist genocide and deepen your commitment to liberation for all.