A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

'A Thousand Splendid Suns' by Khaled Hosseini is an emotional masterpiece. It is the story of two women, Mariam and Laila, who try to survive amidst the oppression and violence they face in Afghanistan. Mariam was an illegitimate child living with her abusive mother whose life is even more tragically altered as she is married off to Rasheed, a man thirty years her senior and very much controlling. Years later, Laila, who is a young girl from Kabul is merged into Mariam's life after her own family is torn apart by violence. They start to develop an unlikely bond under the oppressive household of Rasheed. As the years pass by, Afghanistan undergoes vast changes, from the Soviet invasion to the rise of the Taliban regime. The hardships they undergo then are heartbreaking to the readers, but they hold out against it all, portraying the power of resilience and trust. They portray the harsh realities of life as women in Afghanistan but the themes of love, hope and sacrifice hold out against the violence and pain.

"A man's heart is a wretched, wretched thing. It isn't like a mother's womb. It won't bleed. It won't stretch to make room for you."

"Learn this now and learn it well, my daughter: Like a compass needle that points north, a man's accusing finger always finds a woman."

The women in this book- the pain that they are forced to endure- it tore at my heart so much so that I wanted to teleport into the book and bring them out of their misery. It made me thankful to have been born where I was. To know that there are women out there, oppressed and violated, like in this book truly haunts me. Hosseini deserves great appreciation for how emotional yet uplifting he made this novel to be. The most tragic part of it all is how everything that happened to Mariam and Laila could've been stopped if people had actually listened to them and helped them a little faster.

All in all, this is an absolute emotionally wrecking masterpiece that delicately shatters your heart and leaves a lasting impact on you for a long long time.

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