Khaled Hosseini's second novel, follows the story of two Afghani women, Mariam and Laila, during and after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
Mariam, who was an illegitimate child of a famous and respectable figure in the city of Herat, is focred to get married to a much older man and live with him in Kabul. Laila, who lives in the same street as Mariam's, is the only daughter of two parents who lost their sons in the war against the Soviets.
Both Mariam and Laila are brought together in unfortunate circumstances. They both endure the brutality of their husband, Rasheed, the war against the Soviets, then the war of the Afghans agaist each other and lastly the Taliban regime. Through painful and sometimes deadly events, Mariam and Laila develop a special bond, they help each other put up with the hardships and always find hope in the lives of Laila's children, Aziza and Zalmai.
When I first started reading the book, I was immediately drawn in by Hosseini's style of writing. He's one of the few writers who can actually bring tears to my eyes. Although the division of the book into four parts isn't my favorite thing about it, I still loved every bit of it. Maybe I got a bit bored in the second part (the one discussing the life of Laila), but Hosseini has a way of keeping you hooked even if you felt bored at some parts.
What I love most about this book is how it ended. In The Kite Runner the book ended with hope, same as this one, but the difference here is that, while in The Kite Runner the hope was found elsewhere, that is in a life in the US, the hope in this book was found by returning back to where all the problems started, and where hope is needed most, that is Afghanistan and Kabul. He brought back his characters to their country to help revive what was damaged by all the rockets and killings.
Although The Kite Runner remains my favorite of the two books, A Thouhsand Splendid Suns is definitely worth every minute spent in reading it.
9/10