About three weeks ago, I picked up both of Khaled Hosseini’s books (Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns) from MPH at 30% discount. I started reading A Thousand Splendid Suns, and within the first few pages, I was enthralled.

In the book, one of the main characters is Mariam, who is an illegitimate child. Her father is a rich man with three wives, who had an affair with one of the housekeepers, resulting in the birth of Mariam. She and her mother were moved to a secluded area, where they would never meet people, and her father, Jalil, came to visit her every week. Things were not ideal for her, as her mother was very bitter their situation, and she sounded a little unstable to me! So, she always looked forward to Jalil’s visits, as they were the highlight of her week. Soon, she discovered that Jalil didn’t really love her, and then her mother committed suicide. She went to stay with Jalil for awhile, and then his wives forced her to marry an old man as they didn’t want her around. Part one of the book relates her early life with her mother and Jalil, and then continues on to her story with her husband, Rasheed.

In the second part of the book, it switches to a little girl called Laila. She has two elder brothers who have gone off to fight in the war, and her mother’s depressed as she seems to love the brothers more than Laila. Her best friend is a lame boy called Tariq, and everyone always jokes that eventually the two of them will get married. We read more about the conditions in Kabul, and about the war that affects everybody. Eventually, most of their neighbours move away from Kabul, but Laila’s mother refuses to go. Tariq’s family leaves as well, leaving Laila brokenhearted. Eventually, Laila’s mother gives in, and they begin to pack their belongings to leave. Unfortunately, just as they are leaving, their house gets bombed, and Laila’s parents die. Now, here’s when the two stories really intertwine. Laila gets taken in by Rasheed and Mariam, eventually agreeing to become his second wife when she discovers that she’s pregnant with Tariq’s baby!

At first, Mariam and Laila don’t get along. Mariam accuses Laila of trying to steal her husband, and is jealous because Laila managed to have a baby, whereas she has never had a baby before. Eventually, things change, and she becomes somewhat of a mother figure to Laila, protecting her from Rasheed’s cruelty.

This book is so well written, but I hypothesized that perhaps I felt that this book was great due to the fact that I had been reading not-so-great books prior to this. However, on reading people’s reviews of the book, everyone seems to think it was great as well! It gives you a glimpse of life in Kabul, as well as how it would be like if you were a woman in Afghanistan. I’m sure this look at a woman’s life is only applicable to a certain group of women, but it still does affect you very deeply. At the end of the book, I cried! It’s rare that a book evokes such emotion from me.

What I found really hilarious was Mr T’s reaction to the book. I updated him on the storyline every time I read some of it, and he found it really weird that I kept on rhapsodizing about the book when it was so sad! He said that only happy books are good books. You can tell that that’s a comment coming from someone who considers reading as browsing through a magazine!

Book: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Read in: February 2009
Rating: 9/10

Related posts:

1. Family Tree by Barbara Delinsky
2. Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult
3. How did you find my blog?