A Thousand Splendid Suns

If I had to describe this book in three words it would be heartbreaking, beautiful, and powerful.

Readers around the world have called "A Thousand Splendid Suns" their “favorite book ever,” and “a must read.” For that reason, I bought and read it. I would not have done so had I known that it consists of 400 pages of violence, abuse, and victimization—primarily of women and children. The author has created strong, well-developed characters and is a great storyteller, but I knew enough about misery and suffering without having read this account of culturally- and governmentally-approved violence against women of all social classes. Any reader who wants to understand the recent history of Afghanistan can learn much from this book. The author, himself a refugee from the horrors of his native country, describes well the many factions engaging in the warfare. One of his final statements sums up this history and the book itself—“Every Afghan story is marked by death and loss and unimaginable grief.”

No matter how many books I read, I always think of this one and always compare them all to this one. It’s absolute perfection. I didn’t know a soul can hurt but this story showed me that it can.

What a story. The imagery was excellent, the characters so strong and powerful. I read this story without knowing what I was getting myself into and I’m glad that I finally got around to it.

One of my favs.