Notes from Book Group March 2009

This month we discussed A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hossieni. This author’s first book, The Kite Runner was well liked by our group and this novel did not disappoint. Even though the story is fiction it feels as though the author is describing current events. Actually he is not all that far off given the current situation in Afghanistan. The name of the novel comes from a line from a poem by Saib-e-Tabrizi. “A Thousand Splendid Suns” was taken by our group to signify the thousand souls locked behind war torn walls waiting to shine forth.

This story is about the depressingly dreary lives of Mariam and Laila in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan during the time the Taliban defeats Russia. It is also about lost loves and hopes. Mariam desperately wants her father to accept her into his family which cannot happen because Mariam was born out of wedlock. Laila loses her teenage love to the circumstances of war as his family moves out of the city to survive. Mariam and Laila eventually end up married to the same miserable man. His mistreatment of them is unimaginable. The two form an unlikely alliance and try to help each other endure.

This was a very moving as well as unsettling novel that you should not miss reading. The story does end in a surprising manner that inspires hope for the characters. Don’t miss this one!