"A thousand splendid suns" by Khaled Hosseini. This book is published by Bloomsbury publishing in 2013 and has 419 pages.
Mariam is a harami (basterd) daughter of successful businessman in Herat. She is married off to a man from Kabul, much older than her. Laila, almost 20 years younger than Mariam, is a carefree girl in the neighborhood whose two brothers are martryed in fight against Soviets and whose mother hasn't come out of mourning, depression and mood swings. Life takes a turn.
A quirk of fate coupled with opportunism brings Mariam and Laila under one roof. They come under same roof when the book reaches 50% mark. The relationship between Mariam and Laila is the soul of the story. The relationship is one of pity and empathy, then it changes to animosity, then to fate accompli, then to cooperation, then to commradiery and finally to a deep bond of love and friendship.
It's a story of relations and relationships between Mariam, Laila, Aziza, the husband Rashid and the way their life is impacted by the upheavals and transitions in Afghanistan starting from rule of Shah to Soviets to Communists to Mujahiddin to Taliban to Northern alliance to Democracy.
It was a horrible situation for women under Taliban rule. They could not leave the abusive husband, could not stand him and had no option but to suffer the abuses without complaint. But it too has a limit.
It's the story of Mariam who has no joy, no satisfaction, no happiness in her life. She encounters suffering after suffering. However she clings to the small things in her life and values them very much. Probably that gives her strength to sustain. It's a story of relationship between two women but Mariam is undoubtedly the protagonist. Her ultimate sacrifice is towering example of her selflessness.
Khaled has written the story lyrically. Though Mariam is absent in the middle portion of the book, reader awaits her return. The Afghan background and Farsi words make the story exotic.
Recommend reading.
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