A Thousand Splendid Suns

Overview

After 103 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and with four million copies of The Kite Runner shipped, Khaled Hosseini returns with a beautiful, riveting, and haunting novel that confirms his place as one of the most important literary writers today.

After 103 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and with four million copies of The Kite Runner shipped, Khaled Hosseini returns with a beautiful, riveting, and haunting novel that confirms his place as one of the most important literary writers today.

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.

Editorial Reviews

Afghan-American novelist Hosseini follows up his bestselling The Kite Runner with another searing epic of Afghanistan in turmoil. The story covers three decades of anti-Soviet jihad, civil war and Taliban tyranny through the lives of two women. Mariam is the scorned illegitimate daughter of a wealthy businessman, forced at age 15 into marrying the 40-year-old Rasheed, who grows increasingly brutal as she fails to produce a child. Eighteen later, Rasheed takes another wife, 14-year-old Laila, a smart and spirited girl whose only other options, after her parents are killed by rocket fire, are prostitution or starvation. Against a backdrop of unending war, Mariam and Laila become allies in an asymmetrical battle with Rasheed, whose violent misogyny--"There was no cursing, no screaming, no pleading, no surprised yelps, only the systematic business of beating and being beaten"--is endorsed by custom and law. Hosseini gives a forceful but nuanced portrait of a patriarchal despotism where women are agonizingly dependent on fathers, husbands and especially sons, the bearing of male children being their sole path to social status. His tale is a powerful, harrowing depiction of Afghanistan, but also a lyrical evocation of the lives and enduring hopes of its resilient characters. (May)
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Author Information

Bio of Khaled Hosseini

Khaled's family relocated to Paris, France, where his father was assigned a diplomatic post in the Afghan embassy. In 1980, the Hosseini family was granted political asylum in the U.S., rather than returning to an Afghanistan that had witnessed a bloody communist coup and the Soviet invasion. He moved to San Jose, CA, with his family and attended Santa Clara University. He later graduated from UC San Diego School of Medicine. While practicing medicine, Khaled's attention turned to writing, inspired by his vivid memories of a peaceful pre-Soviet era Afghanistan, as well as of his personal experiences with Afghan Hazaras. His first novel, The Kite Runner, debuted to International acclaim. An eloquent tale of fathers and sons, friendship, class, and betrayal, it is set against the backdrop of history from the final days of Afghanistan's monarchy to the American overthrow of Taliban rule. Khaled is married, and has two children- a boy and a girl named Haris and Farah.

Customer Reviews

• A Thousand Splendid Suns

  Posted September 07, 2007 by swells33, Madison, MS

  Possibly the most engrossing book I've ever read. Hosseini has written a second novel even better than his first. This book shows an unforgettable picture of the Afghan people. The characters in the book come to life on the pages, and their humanity, strength, and hope shine through even in the worst of times. I highly recommend this book.

• Must Read

  Posted February 26, 2008 by farleigh1, NJ

  This book is an excellent follow up to his 1st wonderful novel. Be sure to read Kite Runner as well. Both books are well written with moving characters and storyline.

• Buy it you won't be sorry!

  Posted February 27, 2008 by leslie-ann, NH

  If you liked Kite Runner you'll love this book. I couldn't put it down, read it in 3 days!!! An absolute must read!! You can picture things being written about so vividly. I could almost feel the pain when the author described "foot binding."
  

• Another good read

  Posted July 02, 2008 by mbgyulay, Milwaukee, WI

  I've read some of the commentary and biography written by women from the Middle East so this wasn't as shocking to me as it was to my friend who found it hard to believe that there are men who are allowed to beat their wives or places where it's dangerous for women to go in public without a chaperon.
  
  It was a really good book about love, rememberance and doing. I hope that Mr Hosseini writes many more books.

• Spellbinding!

  Posted January 21, 2009 by Erika, Monroe

  I couldn't put this book down, and found myself so caught up in the story. I felt every joy and pain of the characters, and was left thinking about this book long after I finished reading it. Excellent read.

• A most read !

  Posted February 21, 2009 by Michy, New York

  It was amazing ! you go through so many emotions... it sucks u in... doesn't disappoint just like the Kite Runner...Simply AMAZING

• Hard to put down

  Posted April 15, 2009 by Linda Bell, Kansas City

  I was a little apprehensive about reading this, but am so glad I did. It taught me so much about the Arabic culture but it didn't feel like learning, felt like entertainment. A very emotion-evoking book, and one I will remember.

Additional Info

Imprint

Penguin Group, Inc.

Filesize

1.22 MB

Number of Pages

384

eBook ISBN

9781429514965