NIKKI BYRD — writer, thinker, lover

Note: This content was written entirely by me and was not generated, edited, or researched using AI.

‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ (2007) by Khaled Hosseini – BOOK REVIEW

The year is 1959. Mariam, the illegitimate daughter of Jalil, a polygamous Afghan magnate, and his maid, Nana, is raised in a state of consequence. Mariam and Nana, disgraced and ostracized by Jalil’s wives, live in a kolba made from sun-dried bricks, mud, and straw in a clearing outside of Herat, Afghanistan, where Jalil visits Mariam every Thursday, joyful in her presence. Nana, cruel and possessed, plants this seed in her daughter’s soul: “There is only one skill a woman like you and me needs in life… Only one skill. And it’s this: tahamul. Endure.”

“Learn this now and learn it well. Like a compass facing north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman. Always. You remember that, Mariam.”

Laila, born of her parents’ dreams, grows up surrounded by a progressive, steadfast mother and an educated, docile father, who encourages her to learn and pursue her ambitions.

“‎I know you’re still young but I want you to understand and learn this now. Marriage can wait, education cannot. You’re a very very bright girl. Truly you are. You can be anything you want Laila. I know this about you. And I also know that when this war is over, Afghanistan is going to need you as much as its men maybe even more. Because a society has no chance of success if its women are uneducated Laila. No chance.”

Mariam’s life, marked by tragedy, and Laila’s life, marked by promise, intertwine. Prose so immersive and extraordinary pours from the heart of Khaled Hosseini, evoking a vibrant landscape of Afghanistan from long ago; the magic of Herat and Kabul before the atrocities of war began destroying them, a promise of a thriving nation: bustling cities, school rooms filled with boys and girls, families celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr surrounded by food and music, laughter and song — expression. With the high of spirited Afghan life, where women exposed their bare ankles and walked freely, gradually came the calamities that loomed from foreign occupancies to internal conflict, killing civilians, destroying cities, and subjugating girls and women to shadows by stripping them of their jobs and education.

Forced to cover with burqas, to bear children, to concede, and remain resilient, Mariam and Laila face an inescapable nightmare of religious patriarchal enforcement in which they still seek to find glimmers of light in little moments of hope.

A Thousand Splendid Suns teleports you to a place you couldn’t imagine; you long to hug Laila, you ache to fight and defend Mariam, wishing to be armed to protect them, gripping at the faint scintillas of their hope, desiring to expand it, illuminate it, materialize it into a living, breathing organism that cannot be denied. You hope for them, in a way, as you hope for your loved ones, yourself. The horror of it all stays with you.

Khaled Hosseini, born in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1980, explores the violence from decades of political instability and the marginalization of women amidst a war waged by men in Afghanistan over territory, ethnicity, and religion. A Thousand Splendid Suns, a book about a land and people who seem so foreign and distant, is the reality many women in Afghanistan face today.

★★★★★

SYNOPSIS

A Thousand Splendid Suns is a 2007 novel by Afghan-born Khaled Hosseini, who was granted asylum in the US as a child during the Soviet-Afghan War in 1980. It is the story of Mariam and Laila, two women married to the same man, Rasheed, while the Taliban comes to power. The novel was chosen as one of the American Library Associations’ Best Books for Young Adults in 2008, was number one on the New York Times Bestseller List for 15 weeks, and was selected as one of the 100 “most inspiring” novels by BBC Arts in 2019. [Read More]