Written by: A. S
Picture below: Cover of book
Information:
Author: Khaled Hosseini / Genre: Historical Fiction / Published: 2007
TW: Talks of suicide, abuse/mistreatment towards women, & violence
Summary (Contains spoilers)
Following Khaled Hosseini’s 2003 novel, Kite Runner, four years later Hosseini published this haunting tale titled after a line from the poem Kabul (written by the Iranian poet Saib Tabrizi in the 17th century). In contrast to Kite Runner, this novel highlights a mother-daughter relationship rather than a father-son one.
Following two different protagonists, we’re first introduced to Mariam– an illegitimate child living with her embittered mother in a hut far away from the city. Her father–Jalil– is a wealthy businessman with 3 wives and several children and visits her once a week. One year, on her fifteenth birthday, she requests to be taken with all of her half-siblings to see Pinocchio. Jalil reluctantly agrees and tells her he will pick her up. However, he doesn’t do so causing Mariam to make his way to his house. Upon arrival, she isn’t recognized as one of Jalil’s daughters and is refused entry. As she’s taken away back to her home by the family’s driver, she spots Jalil in the window and realizes that he knew she was there the whole time and didn’t come out.
She’s taken back home where her mom has committed suicide, believing Mariam to have left her. In a flurry of events, Mariam is taken to live with Jalil and his wives. Shortly after that, she’s forced to marry Rasheed–a forty-year-old shoemaker who lives in Kabul. Rasheed quickly proves to be ill-tempered and abusive toward Mariam after she miscarriages several times.
At this point, the book now switches perspective to years later when a girl named Laila is born. Laila, the daughter of a well-educated teacher, is born in a more progressive time in Afghanistan. She handles the detached emotions of her mother who is still grieving the loss of her two sons who died in the war (sons that Laila has never met). She also develops a close relationship with Tariq– a local boy with one leg. The civil war, between the Soviets and Mujahideen, shakes Kabul with relentless rocket attacks. Tariq’s family leaves for Pakistan and just as Laila’s family is about to do the same, a rocket strikes their home and kills her parents.
It’s not long after that when Rasheed and Mariam find a badly injured Laila and take her in. After they nurse her back to health, Rasheed quickly marries her in hopes of her bearing him a son. When she instead births a daughter, Rasheed turns his abuse towards her as well. To add on top of this, the society around them suddenly changes under the Taliban’s ruthless rule. The two main characters, Mariam and Laila find love, hope, and confidence in each other as they simply try to survive this terrifying reality.
How the Book Relates to the Modern World
This book forces us to face the uncomfortable reality of the life some women endure, even today. Written at the height of the Afghanistan refugee crisis, Hosseini set out to show the world what they refused to acknowledge. Women were treated abysmally at the time, having been denied several basic rights. The treatment of women, how they are viewed by society, what they are told by society– all of these are issues still prevalent today. Even more so, considering the Taliban regained rule of Afghanistan and retook the capital, Kabul in the summer of 2021.
The Taliban brutally punish those who break their strict rules (including things such as banning television, women having to have a man with them when outside, curfews, etc). They’d often make violent public displays of those who disobeyed them, to ensure their message got across.
The women were the first to weep, as they were the first to have lost. Restrictions, small at first, were quickly put in place. A woman can not work in person, she must work online. The Ministry of Women’s Affairs was quickly disbanded. A system to protect abusers, to keep women helpless, and to keep those in power in power was quickly set up. It’s been a year and they’ve swiftly proven to be just as ruthless as before. A video showed women being publicly flogged after daring to go to the grocery store without a man. A newly enforced law asserted that women were completely banned from universities and public schools. Girls weeping in sorrow quickly surfaced on the web yet this is only the beginning.
It goes to show although a lot should have changed, nothing has. This book stands as an accurate and relevant representation of the treatment of women in Afghanistan. Mariam and Laila are, themselves, a representation of all Afghan women and how they are treated. A lot of women are treated similarly to them–or worse– but one difference is that their voices are not heard. Although a fictional story, it forces people to look this terrifying “fantasy” in the eye. Too many people remain ignorant or dismissive of this crisis and ones similar to it.
Why the Book Should be Read in Schools
Although a haunting tale, it depicts a perfect, underlying layer of hope. It educates students on issues like women’s rights. Issues dealing with the rights of people–queer people, POC, African Americans, women, etc are often ignored or underrepresented in stories. A Thousand Splendid Suns teaches readers that while not everyone needs to be an overly active member of the world, these issues still exist, even if we are not an active member of it or if we are not affected by it. In the end, A Thousand Splendid Suns is a stunning tale of endurance, empathy, and love.
Rating
A Thousand Splendid Suns is a great read with heavy emotional topics. The love and endurance told in the story stick with you and fill you with compassion. While it lacks humor, the bond Laila and Mariam share fills you with a sense of hope and teaches you that even through the worst of times there will always be a speck of light to get us out.
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