A Thousand Splendid Suns

There is a book that I can read a million times, and not get tired of it. Khaled Hosseini’s ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’.

Set from 1960 to 2003, A Thousand Splendid Suns tells the story of Mariam and Laila. Mariam is the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy man, Jalil, and has always craved for his love. Jalil has kept Mariam and her mother Nana, in a small hut, away from Herat, and visits her every Thursday. On her fifteenth birthday, Mariam decides to go to Heart to meet him. Disappointment and humiliation is all that she gets. Upon returning home, she learns that Nana has committed suicide. With nowhere to go, she is sent to Jalil’s house and married to Rasheed, a man 30 years older than her.

The plot then moves to Kabul, where war has led to most families leaving the country. Laila and her family are moving out too, when a rocket hits their house, killing her parents and leaving Laila wounded. Rasheed and Mariam take her in. Rasheed, who has by now become abusive towards Mariam due to her successive miscarriages, proposes to Laila. Laila, who is pregnant with Tariq’s child, agrees to the union on learning that he has been killed in a shootout on the border. Troubles arise for Laila when she gives birth to a girl, much to the frustration of Rasheed. He begins to abuse her, and sometimes, the child, Aziza as well.

Mariam and Laila bond over Aziza, and their late-evening tea parties. They plan to run away from Kabul, but are unsuccessful. The consequences are disastrous when Rasheed finds out about it. Years later, Tariq returns to Kabul, searching for Laila and they are reunited. When Rasheed discovers about the incident, he thrashes Laila and almost kills her, when Mariam hits him in the head with a shovel, killing him instantly. She convinces Laila to leave Kabul with Tariq. She then confesses to her crime and is executed in public.

The story is disturbing and heartbreaking. What breaks my heart even more is when Laila and Tariq visit Herat, and discover Jaili’s letter, telling Mariam how much he loved her. You end up feeling sorry for Mariam who never really got anything. How I wish the end was different. *Sigh*. But, a wonderful read nonetheless.

The title of the book is taken from the translation of an Iranian poem, Kabul –

Every street of Kabul is enthralling to the eye,

Through the bazaars, caravans of Egypt pass,

One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs,

And the Thousand Splendid Suns that hide behind her walls.