A Thousand Splendid Suns (2007)

Khaled Hosseini/ Novel

Here is another heartbreaking story from my favorite novelist, Khaled.

A Thousand Splendid Suns chronicles the lives of two women in Afghanistan society, and how they struggled for hope amidst the cruelty, violence, injustice, and war surrounding their unfortunate country for the last 30 years.

Mariam

Mariam is an illegitimate child (harami) of a wealthy businessman (Jalil), and his servant (Nana). For the sake of Jalil's good name, Nana and young Mariam is then forced to live in a faraway kolba (shack). 

Jalil visits them weekly, receiving different reactions. Mariam is all smiles and excitement every time she opens his gifts and listen to his stories on how he deals with his businesses. On the other hand, Nana is anything but warm to Jalil. 

Young Mariam does not understand her mother's utter hatred for Jalil. She believes that one day, Jalil would let her experience what his ten children from three other wives are experiencing in the city. Nana insists otherwise.

This confusion develops into mistrust and into a hasty decision. Mariam leaves Nana for Jalil. Nana feels hopeless upon Mariam's leaving. Thus, she ends her life, instantly.

Laila

Laila is the youngest and only daughter of a university professor (Babi) and a renowned gossiper (Mammi) in their community in Kabul. She has an endearment with her cousin, Tariq- a one legged, handsome young man. Laila is a promise and hope to the people who know her. Babi insists that she finish her education because Afghanistan will soon need empowered women in its social affairs. Laila affirms this thought.

However, Laila is unfortunate enough to deal with growing up and surviving. She has her fair share of challenges as well. At an early age: she loses her two brothers who fought with the Soviets; to her mother, she is shadowed by her brothers' heroism; she loses a dear friend to war; she has to stop schooling; and worst, the war also kills both her parents, and her, almost.

Fortunately- or unfortunately for Laila, an old widower named Rasheed finds her almost lifeless body in the street and help her live again. 

Rasheed is the man whom Jalil has entrusted Mariam to marry in a simple nikka (Islam wedding). 

Two women. One man. One house.

Rasheed and Mariam has long been married before Laila came in their quiet- oftentimes muted- household. Mariam suffers from eight or so miscarriages. To Rasheed, she is a useless wife. Maybe to Rasheed she is, but as the story develops, Mariam is nothing but salvation to people she genuinely loves. 

Laila easily becomes the noor (light; favorite) in Rasheed's eyes because of her beautiful youth. He then proposes marriage to this hopeless girl. As Islamic traditions have it, Rasheed can marry more than one wife in his lifetime. Laila accepts the foolish offer. 

Mariam and Laila's relationship does not start off good. Mariam fears the day that Laila would give Rasheed a child- a son; one simple thing she constantly fails at. And it comes true. In time, though, Mariam and Laila lean on each other for survival.They opt to trust each other because regardless of age gap or childhood, they are suffering the same ill fate of being Rasheed's wife. 
***

From there the story develops... A Thousand Splendid Suns is not for everybody. I have a lot of friends who read books, but would not open a heartbreaking novel. The reason Khaled is my favorite novelist is that he writes beautifully and would leave you hoping that he mentions the next part to you without having to flip the page. As others say it, unputdownable!

His beautiful writing is a compensation for the horror and sorrow in his novel's characters. Like Mariam and Laila, along with other protagonists in the Suns, they all suffered unpleasant fates. There were chapters where I was breathing heavily due to what was happening to them. To my wonder, how can one person think of all these things? But like John Green once wrote: when we know sorrow, we know joy :)

And that is when the redeeming factor of Hosseini's novels comes in. There is always a promise of a better tomorrow for the characters who remain alive. There is always the promise of a thousand splendid suns. 

On another note, if you are innately interested in Islamic culture, you should really read Khaled's works. In them, Hosseini expounds on the impacts of a male dominated culture, women's subversion and oppresion and the issues concerning the relevance of Islamic rules and practices to modern societal settings- in terms of religion, customs and traditions, and gender equality,of course.

I wish I had the energy to write more about this novel. But as a blog is, I just recommend that you read his works and experience suffering within pages. Don't you worry, child, after reading his novels, you would never think of hardships as cul-de-sacs or dead end. In his works, hardships and suffering are essential to personal freedom and pursuit of life. No matter how we deny it, it's true :)

Here's what I could say about Khaled's first novel, 'The Kite Runner'...
http://rossmanicad.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-kite-runner-2003.html

P.S. I am so excited for Khaled's third novel "And The Mountains Echoed" coming this May 2013! :) The books is set for release on May 21 in the US, May 22 in the Philippines- my birthday :)

(Photos courtesy of Tumblr)