Khaled Hosseini’s first novel, “The Kite Runner” was a big hit with book groups and now he follows up with “A Thousand Splendid Suns.” Both books are set in Kabul, but where “The Kite Runner” focuses on relationships between men, “A Thousand Splendid Suns” focuses on the relationships between women, in particular two women: Mariam and Laila. The first chapter follows Mariam, the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy man who is ashamed of her existence. After her mother commits suicide she is quickly married off to Rasheed, a controlling and abusive husband.
The second chapter follows Laila, whose happy life is suddenly turned upside down when her parents are killed by a stray rocket. Pregnant with her dead boyfriend’s child, she decides her only hope for survival is to marry Raheed.
This brings the two women’s stories together for the last two parts of the book as their friendship slowly grows as the women unite against Raheed.
I thought The Kite Runner was good, but this book was so much better. I could not put the book down the moment I picked it up. The book is a heart wrenching tale about Afghanistan's past in the eyes of two women. It follows the lives of two Afghani girls and shows things that they were forced to face while growing up and living in a society that gives woman few rights and is predominately ruled by men. The story was full of surprises and had me wanting to cry at points. It is extremely sad at points, but happy and hopeful at others. The book is so good and I know that if the author ever writes another I will be reading it.
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