We loved Khaled Hosseini's debut, The Kite Runner, so I couldn't wait to read A Thousand Splendid Suns. It's another fabulous title and another story set in Afghanistan. However, it is a far darker book.
While The Kite Runner was by no means an easy read, A Thousand Splendid Suns, with portions set during the Taliban's rule and its focus, this time, on female characters, is harrowing.
There were parts that - despite Hosseini's evocative, musical prose - I almost skim read, as if watching a film from between my fingers. And, I must warn you, the second half of the book was mostly read through a veil of tears, tears that dripped off my chin as I raced through the narrative, desperate to find out if Laila, Mariam and Aziza would be all right.
With extreme domestic violence, persecution, war, and death, it would be so easy to fall into a 'everything is terrible' mind set, but Hosseini's storytelling and his vivid characters remind you of goodness in the midst of horror, the hope - and beauty - of the country, and the indefinable, indefatigable, inspirational human spirit.
Rating: 5/5
Like this? Try: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini