I am possessed by the book, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (His first novel The Kite Runner, was equally good). In this novel, Hosseini unveils the lives of two women spanning three decades in Afghanistan, from the late 70s to a few years ago. Hosseini is believable, as he himself escaped the country and fled to the United States. He is so believable that I feel a need to start learning the history of that region. I have grown tired of the media's version.
His depictions dropped me to my knees. I tried to put the book down last night to sleep but could not and read until I finished this morning at 1:00 a.m. My face was buried in my hands, tears streaming down my face for the character, Laila, who at one point has to give her daughter, Aziza, to an orphanage to keep her from starving at home. Food is reserved for the boys, afterall. Laila is beaten in the streets by the Taliban during her daily attempts to go visit her. Why is she beaten? Because women were not allowed to walk on the streets without being escorted by a male family member.
My heart ached so much that I picked Emerson out of bed and held her to me, whispering prayers in her ear and in Gods asking that she and I never experience the suffering that so many other women face in different nations, and probably our own if I was to investigate further.
Even after watching friends and family die; being beaten and whipped by her husband; and having her rights stolen from her, Laila looks at the city of Kabul and loves it...
..."One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs.
Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls."
Read this book. Get fired up. C
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