A Thousand Splendid Suns

I cried at the conclusion of this book. I cried because I cared so deeply for the women I met on their journeys. And I cried to release the anguish I felt from their rejection, constriction, and subjugation to arranged marriages.

I’m so very grateful for a book written by an Afghan with a clear-eyed perspective of his culture and sensitivity to the tyranny of suppression, especially for women treated as unequal to men. But there’s so much more to this book; it is an homage to courage, resilience, and, ultimately, love, namely, a mother’s self-sacrificing love.  The characters conquer… show more.

Khaled Hosseini won acclaim for his debut novel, The Kite Runner, and with good reason. Opening up a place and culture I knew virtually nothing about, Mr. Hosseini’s story takes place almost entirely in Afghanistan. The same is true of this follow-up novel, which adds to the complexity by featuring a female protagonist, a significant complication in that part of the world. I was drawn in by the eloquence of his language and held fast by the compelling story.

This tragic but beautiful novel is a gut punch from which I needed time to recover. Through the interchanging perspectives of two female protagonists, A Thousand Splendid Suns unpacks thirty years of Afghan history. Throughout the novel, religious fundamentalism is used to validate brutality, violence, patriarchy, and discrimination. Separate family tragedies bring Mariam and Laila together, two women a generation apart. In a world utterly bereft of women’s rights, they suffer ineffable abuse at the hand of the same husband. Mariam and Laila develop a deep friendship, united by shared suffering. Through their lens, I experienced the staggering toll religious… show more.

Though they come from very different walks of life, Mariam and Laila are thrust together because they share a husband in Afghanistan. Mariam and Laila did not choose each other, but they become a family, making this one of the most haunting and unforgettable books I’ve ever experienced. 

This was the first audiobook I ever listened to. It was on CDs at the time that I swapped out while I was driving. There is one unbelievable scene that made me ugly cry so badly, I had to pull over. On the side of the road, I replayed that scene again… show more.

This is a haunting, beautiful, life-changing book, written by a beloved Afghan-American novelist. I read this book years ago and it’s one of those reads that will stay with me forever. At the center of this story are Mariam and Laila, two women brought together by war and upheaval, by family and love and loss. The third inspiring and heartbreaking lead character in this epic tale is the land of Afghanistan, whose story, as we see with heartbreaking clarity, is still very much one of upheaval, love, and war. 

Best known for his novel The Kite Runner, Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns is one not to be missed. Set in Afghanistan, this follows the heart-wrenching story of two women, Laila and Mariam, from different generations that are brought together in an unlikely way. Aligned in their misfortune, they form a friendship as they try to survive and find happiness in their circumstance. This book sheds light on the awful way women are treated in other parts of the world and you feel like you are on a journey of your own as you follow theirs.

An unexpected sibling-like relationship emerging from the hardships of a so-called conventional family in Afghanistan is the central plot of this book. The details of everyday life, the historical and political realism, the characters displaying a wide range of emotions, from deep humanity to extreme cruelty, all contribute to this multi-layered drama of love, sacrifice, and redemption.

Over several decades, the author depicts the changing contexts of both individuals and society, and the shifting values generated by the need to survive. Even if the overall tone of the book is passionately dark, even hopeless, at times, the author succeeds in… show more.