A Thousand Splendid Suns

 

"She remembered Nana saying once that each snowflake was a sigh heaved by an aggrieved woman somewhere in the world. That all the sighs drifted up the sky, gathered into clouds, then broke into tiny pieces that fell silently on the people below. As a reminder of how people like us suffer, she'd said. How quietly we endure all that falls upon us."

Endurance is what comes to the mind when one reads A Thousand Splendid Suns. It's a gut-wrenching account of two women connected by an obstinate thread of fate, violence and destiny. Although they are years apart, they find each other thrown together in the merciless rut of destiny where time stands still but sufferings continue to grow. 

Mariam was once a wide-eyed little girl full of naive hopes & dreams. Cared for by a woeful mother, she lived from one day to the other desperate to see her father. A father for whom paying weekly visits to his illegitimate daughter was enough to fulfil his fatherly duties towards her and a daughter for whom these weekly visits meant the whole world! She realises the brutal reality of her life soon enough when after the death of her mother, her father loses no time in marrying her off to a man triple her age and leaves her to lead a life of isolation and unending misery.

Laila, on the other hand, is blessed to have a loving father who wishes to educate his only daughter so she could build a bright future for herself. Ignorant of the wretched ways of the world, she builds a safe cocoon for herself where her life revolves around her father and her best friend, Tariq. 

With one cruel turn of destiny, Laila loses her everything and finds her life entwined with that of Mariam's. Apprehensive of each other at first, they soon find comfort in each other's presence. Deprived of a mother's love, Laila finds her safe haven in childless Mariam who settles into her new role as if she always knew this was meant to be. 

Together they go through the many trials and tribulations, steeling themselves for the next avalanche waiting to unleash itself on their lives. They endure every pain, every sorrow together with patient and indefatigable fortitude, even when there's no respite in sight. How they empower each other through these sufferings and escape the melancholy in life is the final reward for the reader.

Khaled Hosseini weaves a beautiful tale of suffering, endurance, hope and sacrifice. Even in the chaos that the story depicts, there's a calmness in the words that wrap themselves around the reader and lulls them into a literary stupor. 

A thousand splendid suns is captivating to say the least. I'd give it 5 stars for portraying a sensitive tale so delicately. With that, I'm on to my next read which is called 'Ahalya's Awakening'.

Hope to be back with a review real soon. Till then, happy reading! :)