By: PAIGE FOSTER
Staff Writer
Novelist Khaled Hosseini is best known for his novel The Kite Runner, which takes place in his native country of Afghanistan. Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns also takes place in Afghanistan and is the lesser known (but equally masterful) of his two novels.
A Thousand Splendid Suns first begins in the 1970’s and follows the story of Mariam, a young girl who was conceived out of wedlock and lives in a small hut with her mother outside of the bustling city of Herat. Mariam’s childhood is fraught with difficulties which follow her well into her adult life. The novel then switches to the perspective of a nine year old girl – Laila – as Mariam ages out of her youth. Over the course of the novel, the two women’s lives become inextricably bound together through years and years of tragedy, war, and shared experiences concerning the brutality of man and the subjugation of women.
This novel deals with a number of incredibly sensitive and mature themes, including domestic abuse, blatant sexism, the horrors of war and political turmoil, and arranged marriages between young teenage girls and graying old men. That is partially why Hosseini’s ability to craft such an uplifting, poignant work is so startlingly brilliant. The plot line is perfectly and appropriately balanced so that the overwhelmingly heavy content in the novel is both contrasted and enriched by the characters experiencing small moments of great joy, all without downplaying the significance of the tragedy they experience. Hosseini also perfectly curates his protagonists’ personalities to be both relatable and admirable; flawed and redeemable. Finally, his masterful discussion of womanhood and motherhood are remarkably insightful and continue to be relevant across borders of country and creed.
Overall, A Thousand Splendid Suns is an incredible novel that exemplifies the ideal function of a book: To broaden the readers’ knowledge of other cultures and to point to the overarching experiences which are common to all human beings.