A Thousand Splendid Suns follows the lives of two women living in Afghanistan from the 70's to present. It begins with Mariam the bastard daughter of a rich man who loves his daughter but does not know how to deal with the shame of his own misdeed. After "tragedy" takes the life of her mother, Mariam is forced into a marriage with 40 year old Rasheed. Violence ensues. After eighteen or so years when Mariam has been unable to produce a child, Rasheed "saves" 14-year-old Laila from a rocket fire that claims her parents. Laila has another love but for her own reasons feels she has no choice but to marry Rasheed. Through Laila Mariam is able to feel again and the women join forces to take care of Laila's children and fight Rasheed. I'm not going to give the ending away but it shows redemption and the power of love. The whole story follows the history of the region.On the Four Star Scale
Sap Factor ( ***) - There are some very sad parts in this book. War is not easy and it leaves casualties. There is lots of loss. Situationally it is a four out of four sap factor but for me something was missing in the writing and I felt a little detached from the characters.
Naughty Bits (**) - Children born out of wedlock, premarital sex, lying, spousal abuse, and murder. This is a book about war and the things people do when they are desperate. Not for the faint of heart.
Readability (***) - 384 pages, reads well.
Final notes - I liked the book although like I mentioned before it felt slightly detached to me.
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