A Splendid Novel

Khaled Hosseini's first novel, The Kite Runner, was a best seller and turned into an academy nominated film. A Thousand Splendid Suns is Hosseini's next novel and is already touching the hearts of people everywhere.

Hosseini's novels take on a historical period is beautifully moving as he takes us on a journey through one character's eyes examining the normal people who experience life in a fascinating era. In A Thousand Splendid Suns Hosseini takes us to Taliban-led Afghanistan through the eyes of two young girls Mariam and Laila.

The story begins with Mariam as a girl born out of wedlock growing up with her mother while her wealthy father visits weekly. Her unexciting but simple life comes undone when Mariam loses her mother and even more so when the wives of her father arrange for her to be married to an older widower and move to Kabul.

Living down the road from Mariam and her husband, Rasheed is Laila. The beautiful school girl, whose mother is mourning the loss of her two sons killed fighting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and whose father is an intellectual school teacher, is dealing with normal school life as well as the surrounding conflict.

The stories show two women dealing with conflict in their country while dealing with the conflicts in their lives. We hear mention of the Taliban, the Soviets and Bin Laden while the women struggle with their own families.

It's a beautifully written, descriptive tale which places an important focus on the lives of the people living through times of upheaval in Afghanistan.