Read It & Review: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

“And the past held only this wisdom: that love was a damaging mistake, and its accomplice, hope, a treacherous illusion. And whenever those twin poisonous flowers began to sprout in the parched land of that field, Mariam uprooted them. She uprooted them and ditched them before they took hold.” – p 256, Ch. 35

Plot Summary

The novel takes place in the Afghanistan and focuses on the main characters: Mariam and Laila. Spanning from the 1960s to the 2000s and jumping between the two women’s perspectives, the reader is taken through the challenges they endure. Mariam, an illegitimate child, and Laila, an orphan, both live different lives but ultimately their stories come together when they marry the same man, Rasheed.

Spoilers Ahead: Read at Your Own Risk!

General Thoughts

I love this book and Hosseini’s writing and I own all of his novels. He has such a raw and unabashed way of telling stories of life in Afghanistan. He discusses the serious political and economic struggles Afghanistan and the people living there were facing throughout the 1960s to 2000s. Being born in Kabul, he has a true perspective as to how life is and was even after coming to the States in the 1980s with his family.

He creates a friendship between Laila and Mariam that starts out rocky but grows and lasts for years. The book ends with Laila vowing to name her third child—if it is a girl— Mariam. It’s such a lovely sentiment and really shows how much their friendship blossomed through the hardship and abuse they endured.

This is a novel that sticks with you years after you’ve read it. I’ll randomly think of this book and the characters in my everyday life. Books like that are the best kind, in my opinion.

Read Again?

Absolutely! I’ve read this book at least 4 or 5 times and I have no doubt that I will read it again. This novel and his other books have a permanent spot on my bookshelves. If you haven't read it yourself, I highly recommend it. Really, any of his books I recommend!

Writing Style: 5/5

Story: 4/5

Ending: 5/5

Overall Rating: 5/5

Have you read A Thousand Splendid Suns? What were your thoughts? Are there books like this that have stuck with you too? Share them in the comments below!