Finding a Home in a Hundred Places

MIXED ASIAN MEDIA - December 17, 2021

By Sarah Mueller

I grew up in a multicultural house, my mom is from the Philippines and my Dad is Jewish Egyptian. They fell in love in Hong Kong, somewhere in between the hustle of Central and the crescent moon shaped beach of Repulse Bay. They spoke six languages between them, but only ever said “I love you” in English. They each saw different parts of the world before ever seeing it together, and I can confidently say they met because of their adventurous spirits and shared love of travel. My dad’s infinite love of seeing the world greatly influenced my latest novel, Home in a Hundred Places, and is a tribute to the beautiful journeys he took around the world in his lifetime.

I like to think I grew up a storyteller, and I’m pretty sure my dad knew it too. One of the clearest memories I have is of him sitting on our couch with his glasses on, a pencil in his hand, reading my latest writings. He printed out every short story I wrote, or full manuscript I dreamed up, and sat in the living room until he read the first word to the very last. He was my strongest supporter and greatest encourager in life.

But after all these years of fictional storytelling, I knew it was time to tell the greatest story I have ever known. Home in a Hundred Places is my new novel, based on the true life events of my dad as he maneuvered and escaped a life of espionage in Egypt and eventually settled in New York with his Filipina wife, only to have dementia slowly erase a lifetime’s worth of adventures and experiences.

Home in a Hundred Places takes readers on a journey with Raymond, the main character who is based on my father. As the only son of a textile merchant amongst five sisters, he is naturally a protector and guiding light, as he tries to make a secure life for himself. Born in Haiti, but raised mostly in Egypt, Raymond finds himself as a key member of a Cairo based spy ring during turbulent times of nationalism in Egypt, when the Jewish Egyptian population was being forced out of the country.

After leaving his life of espionage in Cairo, he ultimately started over in New York City, but his adventurous and courageous spirit continued to work and travel around the world. Whether that meant Mediterranean evenings in the South of France or humid summers in Southeast Asia, Raymond spent nearly nine decades traveling the world, from one corner of it to another.

Writing Home in a Hundred Places was a way for me to capture his remarkable journey, while also showcasing how much international travel influenced his story. Hundred Places takes place in many countries around the world, including Haiti, Egypt, France, the U.S., the U.K., Hong Kong, and the Philippines. The story of his life is not just about the adventures he took but the places he took them in.

Each destination in Home in a Hundred Places became a character on their own. Each city has its own pulse and heartbeat, and readers are able to get a visual and emotional sense of what it might be like to travel to that destination. Whether that meant describing the smells in a small French bakery in Marseille or the way the boardwalk curves along the beach in Coney Island, the settings in Home in a Hundred Places are as vital to the story as the story itself. Travel was such an integral part of his life, and in a sense my life, because it was the reason that brought my parents together.

When writing this novel, I tried to bring to life all these international destinations by using memories of my childhood with my dad. I grew up hearing him speak Haitian Creole with his five sisters, so when it came to incorporating it into the story, it felt natural. I often heard their stories about Old Cairo and trips to Giza to visit the pyramids, so when it was time to describe the motorcycle rides out to the desert, I pictured my father there. When it came down to writing about Hong Kong, the city where my parents fell in love, I thought back to our family trip where my parents showed me around as if they had never left. Our economy seats on the nonstop flight back home from Hong Kong to New York were upgraded for free to business class, as if someone knew that trip would be the last one we’d all take together.

Because after that trip, my Dad’s struggle with Alzheimer’s disease began.

It started off slowly, and there were only hints of it in random little forgetful moments. But as it progressed, it was clear that his lifetime’s worth of travel was behind him. The man who had once made it a point to go for a walk every single day of his life had become homebound. The Dad who loved and appreciated all the world had to offer had lost his energy to see much outside of his own Brooklyn apartment.

If there is one thing I learned about Alzheimer’s disease through his years-long struggle with it, it’s how important it is to remember that a person’s life is not defined by dementia, but more so by the beautiful life that happened before it. Ninety-five percent of my dad’s life did not include angry mood swings or memory loss, but instead was full of exciting journeys around the world and the purest love I have ever known.

There’s no cure of Alzheimer’s disease or any other forms of dementia. By writing Home in a Hundred Places, I set out to preserve some of my dad’s fondest memories before they were gone for good, but ended up writing a book that travels through some of the world’s most famous crossroads — all in search for a quiet place to land full of love, a place to call home.

At the core of this novel is the understanding that home is where the heart is. Whether that means at a kitchen table in Brooklyn, or at the base of the pyramids in Egypt, home is where you make it. My dad made a home for himself in places like London, Miami, Toronto, and Brooklyn. But more importantly, he made a home for himself wherever his family was, and towards the end of his journey around the world, that was all that mattered.

He passed away before he got the chance to sit on the couch one more time to read this novel or see it published and on bookstore shelves. He read every piece of writing I ever created because he was my biggest fan, and I wrote this story of his beautiful life because I’m his biggest fan too.

Sarah Dayan Mueller is a native of Brooklyn, New York. She is the author of two novels, including Home in a Hundred Places and Greater than the Still. Aside from writing her next novel, Sarah enjoys playing piano, ukulele, photography, and traveling the world. She lives in the suburbs of Chicago with her husband, son, and mother.