Mariam is born outside marriage near Herat in the 1960s, the daughter of a wealthy man who visits but will not acknowledge her publicly. At fifteen she is married off to Rasheed, a much older shoemaker in Kabul, and her life narrows to his house and his moods as she fails to give him the son he wants.
Years later Laila, a bright girl raised by a bookish father who believes in educating daughters, grows up on the same street, in love with her childhood friend Tariq. The civil war that follows the Soviet withdrawal tears her life apart and brings her into Rasheed's household. The two women begin as rivals but slowly form a bond that sustains them through the rise of the Taliban.
Hosseini shifts focus from fathers and sons, the heart of The Kite Runner, to mothers, daughters and the experience of Afghan women under successive regimes. The novel traces history from the monarchy to the post-2001 period through the domestic lives of its heroines. It is often praised for its emotional force and its portrait of endurance and quiet courage.
Book details
| Author | Khaled Hosseini |
|---|---|
| First published | 2007 |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | Historical fiction |
| Type | Fiction |
| Pages (approx.) | 372 |
| Setting | Herat and Kabul, Afghanistan, 1960s to early 2000s |
Themes
- Women's lives under oppression
- Female friendship
- Domestic abuse
- War
- Sacrifice
Who should read it
Readers who were moved by The Kite Runner or want a novel about women's resilience in wartime.