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A Thousand Splendid Suns was published in 2007, the second book written by Afghan-born author (and physician, if you can believe that!) Khaled Hosseini. As the cover illustration indicates, he is also the author of the best-seller The Kite Runner, which was published in 2003 and made into a film in 2007. Since Splendid Suns' publication, it too has achieved bestseller status in countries all over the world, and there has been some buzz about turning it into a movie as well. Whereas Kite Runner was the story about a friendship between two boys (and later men) in war-torn Afghanistan, Splendid Suns is a story about two women.
Mariam is the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy man. As a child, she was raised by her mother, and longed for a closer relationship with her father. When her mother commits suicide, Mariam's father decides to rid himself of his responsibility to her by arranging a marriage. Mariam's husband, a shoemaker named Rasheed, is surly and abusive to Mariam.
Laila is a woman much younger than Mariam. When her parents are killed in a rocket blast, and she discovers that she is pregnant by the lover that she assumes is also dead, she too ends up marrying Rasheed, in order to conceal the illegitimacy of her unborn baby. Rasheed ends up behaving very abusively towards Laila as well, and the two women begin to form a bond and an alliance as the Taliban claims power in Afghanistan.
You may be wondering why I would mention another story of this nature and rave about it, seeing as how I just recently wrote about about the film The Stoning of Soraya M. and claimed that it followed in the grand tradition of films which presented a negative portrayal of Islam? Well ... the reason is because this is a story that, while there are scenes of war and violence and oppression, and it is a story that will make you cry (believe me -- I hardly ever cry at books or movies, and I cried at this one, so I guarantee that YOU WILL CRY TOO), it ends in a good place -- and it ends with hope.
You can purchase this book, as well as both the book and film versions of The Kite Runner, via my Amazon.com Associate Store, so check it out!
Mariam is the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy man. As a child, she was raised by her mother, and longed for a closer relationship with her father. When her mother commits suicide, Mariam's father decides to rid himself of his responsibility to her by arranging a marriage. Mariam's husband, a shoemaker named Rasheed, is surly and abusive to Mariam.
Laila is a woman much younger than Mariam. When her parents are killed in a rocket blast, and she discovers that she is pregnant by the lover that she assumes is also dead, she too ends up marrying Rasheed, in order to conceal the illegitimacy of her unborn baby. Rasheed ends up behaving very abusively towards Laila as well, and the two women begin to form a bond and an alliance as the Taliban claims power in Afghanistan.
You may be wondering why I would mention another story of this nature and rave about it, seeing as how I just recently wrote about about the film The Stoning of Soraya M. and claimed that it followed in the grand tradition of films which presented a negative portrayal of Islam? Well ... the reason is because this is a story that, while there are scenes of war and violence and oppression, and it is a story that will make you cry (believe me -- I hardly ever cry at books or movies, and I cried at this one, so I guarantee that YOU WILL CRY TOO), it ends in a good place -- and it ends with hope.
You can purchase this book, as well as both the book and film versions of The Kite Runner, via my Amazon.com Associate Store, so check it out!
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