Reading Rainbow, Vol. 4: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Khaled Hosseini became widely known as an author when his first novel, The Kite Runner, was published five years ago. It is the story of two Afghan boys, Amir and Hassan, who are childhood friends during the early 1970s in Kabul. The Kite Runner is a wonderful story in itself, but Hosseini's second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, is even better.

A Thousand Splendid Suns tells the life stories of two Afghan women, Mariam and Laila. Mariam, born in 1959 in Herat, is the illegitimate child of a servant woman and her employer. She grows up in poverty when her father sends them away out of shame. Mariam is later forced into an arranged marriage with Rasheed, an older man who soon becomes abusive.

Laila, born in 1978, lives near Mariam and Rasheed. Her best friend is Tariq, a boy who lost his leg in an explosion. They are inseparable and their friendship develops into a romance as they enter their teen years.

It is best for me not to tell much more of the plot, but the rest of the book develops the story of how Laila's and Mariam's paths cross as Laila grows into adulthood. A Thousand Splendid Suns is a very engaging book that shows what women have experienced in Afghanistan in recent years, and like The Kite Runner, is a story that centers on friendship and sacrifice.