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Publishers Weekly
(starred review)
February 26, 2007
A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS
By Khaled Hosseini
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 childe. Eighteen years 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.
Kirkus Reviews
(starred review)
March 1, 2007
A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS
By Khaled Hosseini
This Afghan-American author follows his debut (The Kite Runner, 2003)
with a fine risk-taking novel about two victimized but courageous Afghan
women.
Mariam is a bastard. Her mother was a housekeeper for a rich businessman
in Heart, Afghanistan, until he impregnated and banished her. Mariam’s
childhood ended abruptly when her mother hanged herself. Her father then
married off the 15-year-old to Rasheed, a 40ish shoemaker in Kabul,
hundreds of miles away. Rasheed is a deeply conventional man who insists
that Mariam wear a burqa, though many women are going uncovered (it’s
1974). Mariam lives in fear of him, especially after the numerous
miscarriages. In 1987, the story switches to a neighbor, nine-year-old
Laila, her playmate Tariq and her parents. It’s the eighth year of
Soviet occupation – bad for the nation, but good for the women, who are
granted unprecedented freedoms. Kabul’s true suffering begins in 1992.
The Soviets have gone, and rival warlords are tearing the city apart.
Before he leaves for Pakistan, Tariq and Laila make love; soon after,
her parents are killed by a rocket. The two storylines merge when
Rasheed and Mariam shelter the solitary Laila. Rasheed has his own
agenda; the 14-year-old will become his second wife, over Mariam’s
objections, and give him an heir, but to his disgust Laila has a
daughter, Aziza; in time, he’ll realize Tariq is the father. The heart
of the novel is the gradual bonding between the girl-mother and the much
older woman. Rasheed grows increasingly hostile, even frenzied, after an
escape by the women is foiled. Relief comes when Laila
gives birth to a boy, but it’s short-lived. The Taliban are in control;
women must stay home; Rasheed loses his business; they have no food;
Aziza is sent to an orphanage. The dramatic final section includes a
murder and an execution. Despite all the pain and heartbreak, the novel
is never depressing; Hosseini barrels through each grim development
unflinchingly, seeking illumination.
Another artistic triumph, and surefire bestseller, for this fearless
writer.
Library Journal
(starred review)
March 15, 2007
A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS
By Khaled Hosseini
Raised in poverty by her unwed epileptic mother and married off early by
the rich, elegant father who has always kept her at arm’s length, Mariam
would seem to have little in common with well-educated and comfortably
raised Laila. Yet their lives intertwine dramatically in this affecting
new novel from the author of The Kite Runner, who proves that one can
write a successful follow-up after debuting with a phenomenal best
seller. As Mariam settles in Kabul with her abusive cobbler husband,
smart student Laila falls in love with friend Tariq. But she loses her
brothers in the resistance to Soviet dominion and her parents in a
bombing just as the family prepares to flee the awful violence. Simply
to survive, she becomes the second wife of Mariam’s husband and is
bitterly resented by the older woman until they are able to form the
bond that serves as the heart of this novel. Then the Taliban arrive.
Hosseini deftly sketches the history of his native land in the late 20th
century while also delivering a sensitive and utterly persuasive dual
portrait. His writing is simple and unadorned, but his story is
heartbreaking. Highly recommended.
Booklist (starred
review)
March 1, 2007
A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS
By Khaled Hosseini
Hosseini’s follow up to his bestselling debut, The Kite Runner (2003)
views the plight of Afghanistan during the last half-century through the
eyes of two women. Mariam is the illegitimate daughter of a maid and a
businessman, who is given away in marriage at 15 to Rasheed, a man three
times her age. Their union is not a loving one. Laila, 19 years younger,
is born to educated, liberal parents in Kabul the night the communists
take over Afghanistan. Adored by her father but neglected in favor of
her older brothers by her mother, Laila finds her true love early on in
Tariq, a thoughtful, chivalrous boy who lost a leg in an explosion. But
when tensions between the communists and the Mujahideen make the city
unsafe, Tariq and his family flee to Pakistan. A devastating tragedy
brings Laila to the house of Rasheed and Mariam, where she is forced to
make a horrific choice to secure her future. At the heart of the novel
is the bond between Mariam and Laila, two very different women brought
together by dire circumstances. Unimaginably tragic, Hosseini’s
magnificent second novel is a sad and beautiful testament to both
Afghani suffering and strength. Readers who lost themselves in The Kite
Runner will not want to miss this unforgettable follow up.
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