num_pages: 384
description: Mariam is only fifteen when she is sent to Kabul to marry the troubled and bitter Rasheed, who is thirty years her senior. Nearly two decades later, in a climate of growing unrest, tragedy strikes fifteen-year-old Laila, who must leave her home and join Mariam's unhappy household. Laila and Mariam are to find consolation in each other, their friendship to grow as deep as the bond between sisters, as strong as the ties between mother and daughter. With the passing of time comes Taliban rule over Afghanistan, the streets of Kabul loud with the sound of gunfire and bombs, life a desperate struggle against starvation, brutality and fear, the women's endurance tested beyond their worst imaginings. Yet love can move people to act in unexpected ways, lead them to overcome the most daunting obstacles with a startling heroism. In the end it is love that triumphs over death and destruction."A Thousand Splendid Suns" is a portrait of a wounded country and a story of family and friendship, of an unforgiving time, an unlikely bond, and an indestructible love.
language: English
title: A Thousand Splendid Suns
titlecomplete: A Thousand Splendid Suns
characters: Tariq, Mariam, Rasheed, Laila
genres: Fiction, Historical, War, Drama, Adult, Classics, Novels, Contemporary, Adult Fiction, Historical Fiction
ratings_count: 1470867
places: Herat, Afghanistan, Kabul
awards: awardedAt: 1199174400000
name: British Book Award
category: Best Read of the Year, awardedAt: 1199174400000
name: Book Sense Book of the Year Award
category: Adult Fiction, awardedAt: 1167638400000
name: California Book Award
category: Fiction (Silver), awardedAt: 1167638400000
name: Exclusive Books Boeke Prize, awardedAt: 1293868800000
name: Lincoln Award
publisher: Riverhead Books