A Thousand Splendid Suns: book review

By Yusra Yousef, Staff writer

Kite Runner author Khaled Housseini\’s second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, is as powerful as his first. “Dense, rich, pressure-packed guide to enduring the unendurable,” TIME Magazine praises. 

 

A Thousand Splendid Suns tells a forty year tale of two women living in the same area in Afghanistan. Mariam is born illegitimately and later is married to an abusive and cruel man named Rasheed. Laila, who is Mariam\’s neighbor, has a completely different life. She has ambitions, opinions, and plans for an education—until something tragic happens that forces her life to take a turning point and binds the two women together.  

The book is divided into four parts. The first part focuses on Mariam, the second and third parts focus on Laila, and the fourth part alternates between Mariam and Laila.  

Hosseini\’s writing is simple yet intense. He enriches the novel with gripping events that leave no lull in the book\’s pace. Hosseini touches upon so many aspects of life, it is difficult not to relate to them.  By the time you get to the middle of the book, it\’s difficult to put the book down. And although the richly illustrated historical background is never the main focus, the presents a beautiful setting to the personal efforts and struggles of the two women.  

A Thousand Splendid Suns is a touching tale about the power of love, the bonds of friendship, the love of country, and the struggle to endure. A Thousand Splendid Suns\’ ending is unexpected and will leave the reader satisfied.  

“A Thousand Splendid Suns is an important, provocative work. The rich and violent history of Afghanistan provides a backdrop that informs and saturates the story… Hosseini has succeeded in writing another epic tale, a novel not to be missed,” says the Rocky Mountain News.  

A Thousand Splendid Suns is a must read novel, and you might even find yourself rereading the novel just to repeat the fulfilling experience the novel provides.