A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS BY KHALED HOSEINI

“Mariam wished for so much in those final moments. Yet as she closed her eyes, it was not regret any longer but a sensation of abundant peace that washed over her. She thought of her entry into the world, the harami child of a lowly villager, an unintended thing, a pitiable regrettable accident. A weed. And yet she was leaving it as a friend, a companion, a guardian. A mother. A person of consequence at last. No. it was not so bad, Mariam thought, that she should die this way. Not so bad. This was a legitimate end to a life of illegitimate belongings.” KHALED HOSSEINI

NOTHING could prepare you for the contents of this book, Khaled begins the story of Mariam with emphasis of who she is viewed to be by society and by herself. She is a young and bright girl born in a small village in Afghanistan, but the circumstances in which she is raised are unfortunate. She is an illegitimate child of a wealthy man who had an encounter with his maid (her mother) Mariam’s mother ends up pregnant with his child (Mariam) and is later chased out of his house by his wives and ends up raising mariam in the village. Her father is not completely erased from her life but he can only provide so much for her and that becomes one of Mariam’s biggest conflict.

She loses her mother and ends up getting married off at a very young age to a man named Rasheed. She lives a very painful life and the war seems to intensify that pain. One of her greatest fears is that she might never belong. And throughout her life she lives with this fear. Rasheed who is really old and abusive does not help matters for her as he constantly talks her down. She later crosses paths with a girl named Laila, who loses her family in a bombing and ends up being married to Rasheed.

Mariam does not warm up to Laila at first, simply because she has seen her grow. Having been neighbors Mariam has watched Laila from the time she was a little girl running around with her first love Tariq and this fact makes Mariam question the whole idea of sharing a husband with her. Though she is only in her teen years when she marries Rasheed, Laila somewhat has a matured view on life and that eventually becomes the basis for their bonding. They grow close and begin to share tears, joys accomplishments, failures and lose. They also go through Rasheed’s abuse and occasionally try to escape it but their fate seems to be intertwined with grief.

In the end their stories unfold beautifully…

For me this is a story about a number of women. Some are probably in Laila’s situation while others are in Mariam’s and it was refreshing to read about how strong women who go through physical and emotional abuse really are. It’s easy to judge them but this book educated me a lot on circumstances that most women find themselves in. I learnt that there is sunshine even in dark times and that there is a lot of different sunshine’s in life. This book will surely put anyone in tune with their life and I am convinced that there is a certain strength that you will draw from it.

Plus it made me cry……

Beautiful piece of writing.

please leave a comment if you have read the book and if not does this review help. would love to hear from you! :)