"A Thousand Splendid Suns" written by Khaled Hosseini

A Thousand Splendid Suns is a book about two lives coming together through the years of hardship in Afghanistan. From the perspectives of two heroines, it tells the story of love, courage, friendship, and family. Leaving a powerful story for anyone to read.

The story starts out with a young Mariam in the city of Herat in Afghanistan. Living with her mother and having frequent visits from her father Jalil and her mentor and teacher Mullah Faizullah. Until one day a promise of a trip to the cinema with Jalil but does not arrive at the expected time. This is a turning point in the story. This event leads to a marriage between Mariam Rasheed and begins a complicated life in the city of Kabul, where the story begins to connect itself with other characters.

Eventually, we meet the character Laila who is born shortly after Mariam and Rasheed were married. Here she lives a life with both her mother and father and down the street from her best friend Tariq. Throughout the story we see both Laila and Tariq grow up until tragedy strikes as a conflict between the warlords causes violence and destruction across the city. This leads to Tariq leaving and an explosion that ends up killing her parents.

This is where both Mariam and Laila's life connect. Laila being recently orphaned is married off to Rasheed as his second life. Being wary of each other at first but ending up becoming best friends, both Mariam and Laila live through Rasheed's abuse and raise Laila's children as an inseparable unit. As they live their lives in the war-ravaged city of Kabul they go through hard times, until the return of Tariq. This causes Rasheed to be enraged almost killing Laila until Mariam defends her, killing Rasheed in the process.

After this event Laila ends up leaving with Tariq, leaving behind Mariam to face her consequences per her choice. Ending the book with a life Laila leaves with her two children and Tariq. From this turning point, Laila begins to lead her life in Mariam's memoriam and reflects on both their lives, as people and as friends.

This book I highly recommend. It is a story that teaches about the culture and changes in Afghanistan over the years. It is a touching story of friendship and family even through the toughest times displayed in the book. It will make you have a perspective of other cultures and relationships. It gives the reader hope about life in general. It'll warm your heart while at the same time make a tear come to your eyes. The heroism is an inspiration to many younger readers and is an outstanding read for all readers alike.