A Thousand Splendid Suns by khaled Hosseini

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Wow! If you thought the Kite Runner was good, then this second book by Hosseini is a must read. This heart-wrenching story is bound by two women of differing backgrounds, Miriam, the illegitimate child of a wealthy businessman in Herat, and Laila, a much younger, educated woman raised by liberal parents in Kabul. Wishing to remove Miriam from the legitimate family, the 15-year-old is betrothed to a shoemaker three times her age. When she cannot produce an heir, her husband becomes a brute. Set in the second half of the 20th century, war grips Kabul as the Russians, tribal factions, and the Taliban all tear the country apart. Laila is born the day the communists take over. She is adored by her father but emotionally neglected by her mother in favor of her older brothers. Laila turns her affections to Tariq, a neighborhood boy who lost one leg to a land mine. When Tariq’s family flees to Pakistan amid the turmoil, Laila stays with her parents, only to see them killed in a mortar attack on their home. Laila is 14, wounded, and in need of care. Miriam and her husband, Rasheed, take her into their home. To secure a safe future, Laila, is forced to make a horrible decision and she marries Rasheed. As life becomes constrained for the women of Afghanistan, both Miriam and Laila comfort each other trying to survive a despotic household. That this is probably an accurate portrait of life in a male-dominated society is the most disturbing aspect of this book.