A Thousand Splendid Suns

In A Thousand Splendid Suns, a young Afghan woman’s journey through life is told beginning in her teenage years. She grew up living alone with her mother on a secluded hill outside of town but was regularly visited by her wealthy father. Although her bitter mother told her to stay away from him because he was embarrassed of her, Mariam refused to believe her and went into town to see how his outside life was. Due to jealousy and resentment, the father’s wives forced her to leave and had the father marry her off. She lives an unhappy life with her new husband, Rasheed the shoemaker. He carries himself as a sexist man who strongly believes women should wear a burka when out of the house. Since he doesn’t seem to trust her, she is to stay inside the house and do chores while he is away. When Mariam doesn’t do something his way, he beats her. As soon as he discovers she is pregnant, however, he treats her like a queen but sadly goes back to his ways once she has a miscarriage. Several miscarriages later, a beautiful young girl named Laila steals the eyes of Rasheed but Mariam is abused even more. Laila becomes Rasheed’s second wife after hearing the love of her life is leaving and has a child that may not be Rasheed’s. Mariam grows jealous of Laila, simply because Rasheed treats her as if she was a delicate flower. When Laila has her second child, Rasheed becomes more hostile and begins to abuse both of them. As time passes, Laila and Mariam learn to accept each other and even grow to care deeply for one another. They then find condolence in one another and become inseparable. The one thing that bonds them is the belief that they must follow their heart to happiness.
Like another one of Khaleo Hosseini’s, Kite Runner, Afghanistan’s war and tragedies are incorporated into it which gives it a realistic feel. Although it seems predictable, Khaleo twists his story in order to create suspense that everyone looks for in a good novel.