“One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs,
Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls.”
Khaled Hosseini
Outline
I had been meaning to read this book for the longest time. And now that I have I wish I had read it sooner for this is one of the most important stories to have been told.
The story revolves around the lives of the two women, Mariam and Laila. The story spans over three decades and is set in the land of Afghanisthan against the backdrop of the Soviet Invasion and the reign of the Taliban.
Mariam is the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy businessman Jalil. As a consequence of the associated stigma, she lives an isolated life with her mother on the outskirts of Herat. Her father visits her once a week. Mariam is really fond of her father and eagerly looks forward to all the visits. After a tragic event, Mariam is forced to marry Rasheed, an older man at the age of 15. She has to move to Kabul.
Nearly 20 years later, Laila is born. Laila leads a very different life in Kabul. She has a doting father who believes in the education of women and that women should get equal opportunities as men. She has a loving mother and two older brothers. Laila lives a beautiful life in Kabul with her family and friends.
An unexpected sweep of events brings these two women together. The book explores the relationship that grows between them – of friendship, love, their struggles, endurance. It explores the hardships and the journey of women during a time and in a culture where being a woman wasn’t an easy thing.
How did this book made me feel
It is one of the most moving books that I have read in a long long time. The story is thought-provoking and not easy to digest. The twists that this book holds lies outside the realm of one’s imagination. This book made me feel a storm of emotions and will stay with me forever.
What I borrowed from this Book
- “Marriage can wait. Education cannot…Because a society has no chance of success if its women are uneducated, Laila. No chance.”
- “Time is the most unforgiving of fires.”
- “You can not stop you from being who you are.”
- “Love was a damaging mistake and its accomplice, hope, a treacherous illusion.”
- “Of all the hardships a person had to face, none was more punishing than the simple act of waiting.”
“𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬
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