A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Propelled by the same superb instinct for storytelling that made The Kite Runner a beloved classic, A Thousand Splendid Suns is at once an incredible chronicle of thirty years of Afghan history and a deeply moving story of family, friendship, faith, and the salvation to be found in love.

Born a generation apart and with very different ideas about love and family, Mariam and Laila are two women brought jarringly together by war, by loss and by fate. As they endure the ever escalating dangers around them—in their home as well as in the streets of Kabul—they come to form a bond that makes them both sisters and mother-daughter to each other, and that will ultimately alter the course not just of their own lives but of the next generation. With heart-wrenching power and suspense, Hosseini shows how a woman’s love for her family can move her to shocking and heroic acts of self-sacrifice, and that in the end it is love, or even the memory of love, that is often the key to survival.

A stunning accomplishment, A Thousand Splendid Suns is a haunting, heartbreaking, compelling story of an unforgiving time, an unlikely friendship, and an indestructible love.

Reviews

“A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini, tells the intertwining story of two women in war torn Afghanistan. The upheaval and turmoil of the country is mirrored in the personal lives of these two women. They endure hardships and heartaches of unimaginable magnitude. Despite the oppression, despite the tragedy, they endure. It is a story of love, hope and survival.

The rich imagery and compelling characters draw you in to this foreign world. The story telling is highly engaging, and clips along at a pace that makes the book hard to put down. Despite the many lows, there are glimmers of hope and sparks of humour that keep you going. A modern epic.

I personally found the story and the women to be inspiring, rather than pitiable, and I was left with a sense of gratitude for the life I have. I would highly recommend this book.” – Review by Melissa

“The history of the last 33 years of Afghanistan is told through the lives of 2 women from very different backgrounds.  The story takes us into the villages and homes of the Afghan people living through this tumultuous era.  Hosseini’s ability to capture the sounds, taste, smell and even fear of daily life drew me into the story completely.  Hosseini has opened a window to a world not many of us could imagine. I wasn’t able to put this book down until I finished it.” – Review by Shirley

“I couldn’t put this book down! As hard as it was to read of the horrors these women have to live through on a daily basis it was written with such a feeling of hope. Hosseini writes with such a compelling style that he helps to pull you through this story and show you the strength and love that people are capable of even in the toughest of situations. A true masterpiece.” – Review by Kelly

 The Swallows of Kabul by Yasmina Khadra

Kabul under the Taliban, a devastated city ruled by executioners and crows, where laughing in public brings down the wrath of the religious police. This is the world in which Yasmina Khadra – a pseudonym of a former officer in the Algerian army – sets his cauterizing novel of fanaticism and tenderness.

With an implacable eye, Khadra follows two couples: Mohsen and Zunaira are dispirited surviors of Afghanistan’s educated middle class; Atiq is a brutish jailer bound by a debt of gratitude to his dying wife, Musarrat. One day the horrified Mohsen finds himself taking part in the stoning of a condemned prostitute, an action that will impel all four characters toward new destinies. As spare as carved bone and filled with images that explode like bombs, The Swallows of Kabul is a work of haunting power.

“I found this book affected me on 2 different levels. One was in the vast difference between the way we live here in North America and the horrors that people face on a daily basis in other parts of the world. I can’t imagine what it would be like for a woman to live in a place where you have almost no rights at all. I was also struck by how people can overcome their circumstances to show such strength and tenderness for each other. These people are stripped of everything and yet they still try to maintain their sense of human decency.

While this book takes place in a bleak setting the imagery and the gentle writing makes it a difficult book to put down.” – Review by Kelly

The Swallows of Kabul is available at London Drugs.