A review by clarissa_joy
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

dark emotional inspiring sad slow-paced
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

 This book broke my heart. It may be a fictional story, but I know that Mariam and Laila's reality is one experienced by so many women in Afghanistan and other Middle Eastern countries. Early in the book, Mariam's mother tells her, "It's our lot in life, Mariam. Women like us. We endure. It's all we have." And endure she does, as does Laila. My heart ached for both women as they faced familial dysfunction and loss, martial abuse, and absolute devastation in their home and country. Yet in the midst of that, they found the capacity to love and hope and ultimately fight back.
This book tackles many heavy topics with nuance and leaves the reader conflicted as to the resolution of them.
Hosseini uses Mariam and Laila to showcase the backdrop of the tumultuous events that took place in Afghanistan between 1975 and 2003. I was aware while reading that thousands of people experienced these same hardships and pain and it was deeply moving.
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