Heather Hodges

While Oklahoma was in the grips of a crippling ice storm, I was in the grips of the most heart wrenching novel I have read all year.

I had heard lots of great reviews for Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner. After reading it earlier this year I must say the praise was justified. As good as that novel was, A Thousand Splendid Suns was even better. Hosseini is a straightforward story teller. His writing is beautifully simple with well-chosen metaphors and enticing foreshadowing. I was completely drawn into the lives of Laila and Miriam, two Afghan women.

In A Thousand Splendid Suns, the modern history of Afghanistan (1964-2003) is told eloquently through the eyes of Laila and Mariam. Their story is marked by death and loss, unimaginable grief, war, the Taliban, oppression of women, sacrifice, and hope. Yet, in the face of so much pain Laila sees that people find a way to survive, to endure and go on. Undoubtedly, this is more than a story of survival in the face of what seems to be impossible odds. It is a story of the unconquerable spirit of the Afghan people seen through the eyes of two tenacious women.

Don’t hesitate to pick up either one of these treasures, The Kite Runner or A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, you will not be disappointed (but keep a box of tissues handy.)