BOOK REVIEW

Then one day, Mariam decides to visit her father’s home, a visit he does not acknowledge , and returns to find her mother has hanged herself. Her malicious stepmothers then marry her off to Rasheed, an elderly widower from Kabul, a fairly good way for her once precious father to forget her. Her marriage deteriorates after her miscarriages and the doctors prove that she is infertile. The marriage gets worse over the years especially when Rasheed marries a thirteen year old orphan, Laila. At first the relationship between Mariam and Laila is a brutal one since Mariam feels she has been replaced by someone as young as her miscarriage children. When Laila disappoints Rasheed by baring a daughter, she too finds herself the target of his cruelty. But out of this unhappy household grows a friendship which will bind the two women in a union as close as any marriage, and which will endure beyond Mariam’s suicide. Khaled Hosseini’s second novel touches on thirty years of tribulation in Afghan History through a memorable story of love, struggle and hope.

The fact that he comes from Afghanistan and has dedicated this book to women who are treated as mere objects shows how true he is to himself and his readers. He clearly shows without bias how men are oppressive. I agree with him without a doubt that the rise of the Taliban was an advantage for men. The book leaves out why and how the war in Afghanistan developed. I think this was because he was not trying to be political and his main purpose was to reveal the consequences of the war especially when it comes to the female gender. ‘In case you’re wondering whether A thousand Splendid Suns is as good as The kite Runner, here’s the answer: No. It’s better’, Washington Post. His first book The kite runner is mainly about brotherly love but I prefer his second book since it is a reality. I think Hosseini achieved a lot because I could relate the events of the book to personal experience.

‘Only the hardest of hearts could fail to be moved’, Glamour. Indeed the book is representing Afghan women in a realistic way. I would recommend this book for people who advocate for change in terms of female gender bias and oppression, The book invite you to their sorrow.  I am certain that potential readers would weep, if not at least sigh at the end of the story.