A Thousand Splendid Suns

Mariam is fifteen when she is forced into marriage to Rasheed a very bitter and troubled man, thirty years her senior. Twenty yeas later tragedy strikes Laila, and she leaves her home to join this unhappy household. Gradually a deep and lasting friendship grows between the two women.

For the past two months every time I went into a book shop this book caught my eye, with its golden cover portraying a lonely very sad looking woman on it. Eventually I treated myself to it. I am so pleased I bought it as I have found it a deeply moving story of family and friendship. I feel it has given me some understanding of life in Afghanistan during the rule of the Taliban, and also made me appreciate how important it is to fight for equal rights for men and women.

This is Hosseini’s second book, The Kite Runner being his first. It is top of my list of books I must read.