A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini is a heart-wrenching story of family, love and friendship and a chronicle of three decades of Afghan history, from the Soviet invasion to the tribal wars and the vicious reign of the Taliban to American intervention and attempted reconstruction by world powers. It is a story of two women, Mariam and Laila.

Mariam is an harami, the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy merchant named Jalil who has 3 wives and 9 “legitimate” children. Mariam’s mother, Nana, is a servant in Jalil’s house. Nana and Mariam are forced to live in a small kolba, not much more than a hut, on the outskirts of town near a dusty village called Gul Daman. Jalil drops by to see Mariam most weeks, bringing her gifts and spending time with her. Nana tells her daughter: “Learn this now and learn it well, my daughter: Like a compass needle that points north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman. Always. You remember that, Mariam.”

When Nana commits suicide, fifteen year old Mariam is forced to marry Rasheed, a brutal, forty-five-year-old shoemaker and widower. Rasheed takes Mariam to Kabul where she is treated cruelly and often physically abused.

The second main character is Laila, a beautiful young beauty who grows up as a neighbour of Rasheed and Mariam in Kabul. She has a childhood friend, Tariq, a young man who lost a leg to a Soviet land mine. When life in Kabul reaches dangerous level due to constant bombing, Tariq’s family decides to leave the city for Pakistan. Just before he leaves Kabul, Tariq has sex with Laila.

Laila’s parents are killed when their home is struck by a rocket. Laila is miraculously rescued from the rubbles by Rasheed who takes her home. Mariam is made to take care of Laila who is badly injured. Rasheed tells Mariam to persuade Laila into becoming his second wife. Knowing she is pregnant with Tariq’s baby, Laila agrees as she knows that she and her baby would face a hellish life if she is without a husband. Mariam initially resents Laila but with the passage of time, a strong mother-daughter bond develops between them.

Laila gives birth to a daughter, Aziza, meaning ‘Cherished One.’ Rasheed, hoping for a son, harbours suspicion that Aziza is not his daughter. He starts beating Laila with his belt and makes her life a nightmare. Laila later gives birth to Zalmai, a little boy adored by Rasheed.

Tariq, whom Laila has presumed to be dead, makes his appearance. When Rasheed learns that Laila has met up with Tariq, he loses control and starts beating Laila furiously with his belt. Mariam, in her attempts to protect Laila, kills Rasheed. She tells Laila to leave Kabul with Tariq and her two children, with herself remaining in Kabul to face the consequences for her killing of Rasheed.

The novel highlights the frightening abuses of women and hypocrisy against women in Afghanistan. There is a lot of pain and darkness but buried under the surface of the cruelties is a story of a fight against impossible odds and the resilience of the human spirit.

I think that this book has the makings of a classic. It is engaging and horrifying, and uplifting and heart-breaking. It soars!