"One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs , or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls"
UNFORGETTABLE
HEARTBREAKING
IMPACTFUL
When I first read this book, it left me thinking for days and I felt all the aforementioned emotions after completing this ecstatic book.
Mariam lives with her embittered mother , Nana in a hut on the outskirts of Herat. The hut has been built by her father Jalil to overcome his guilty conscience.
Being called a harami ( illegitimate) she knows inequality like no other.
Mariam is only fifteen years old when she is married to a forty five year old shoe maker , Rasheed. He is initially kind but their relationship starts getting toxic. Rasheed becomes extremely moody and abusive towards her over her inability to bear him a son.
At the same time, Laila is a young girl who stays in the neighborhood and she is very close friends with Tariq, a neighbor boy who she soon starts getting romantically involved with.
It's not very late , when Afghanistan becomes a land of war and Tariq's family decides to leave the city. Meanwhile Laila also comes to know that she is pregnant with Tariq's child and hence decides to seek refuge in marriage with Rasheed.
Amid the brutality being faced by the two women exercised either by the Taliban or by Rasheed, they become each others only solace.
Eventually, Laila and Mariam become very good friends and find themselves much stronger than before. The transition in the character of Mariam is highly unexpected. She transits from being a victim to being valiant.
It's a story about bravery , love and friendship. It is definitely an emotional roller coaster and you're bound to weep every now and then.
Khaled Hosseini conveys very vividly the many aspects of love and the ways people sacrifice themselves for those they care about.
Comments
Post a Comment