Plot:
Mariam is only fifteen when she is sent to Kabul to marry Rasheed. Nearly
two decades later, a friendship grows between Mariam and a local teenager,
Laila, as strong as the ties between mother and daughter. When the Taliban take
over, life becomes a desperate struggle against starvation, brutality and fear.
Yet love can move a person to act in unexpected ways, and lead them to overcome
the most daunting obstacles with a startling heroism.
This book moved me to tears, it is truly a remarkable and beautifully crafted novel. At times Hosseini paints harrowing and brutal scenes but always retains, through the characters of Mariam and Laila, humanity, spirit and above all love. There were chapters in this novel through which I literally held my breath, wishing with all my heart that what was unfolding would not and could not happen !. It is very easy for those of us lucky enough to live in safety to visualise Afghanistan as a brutal, forsaken place, but this novel shows us something more. It forces the reader to acknowledge and recognise not only the suffering of people in our war torn world but something else, the human capacity for survival, forgiveness and love. Truly a wonderful book and one I would urge others to read. The best novel I have read in a long time and one that will stay with me for a long time to come. I have now ordered the 'Kite Runner' as this novel has inspired me so much :))
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