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I must confess rather ashamedly, that I was somewhat skeptical when I was handed this book to read. They say 'never judge a book by its cover' and yet we all do it. The number of times I have walked past this book on the shelf and not even giving it a second glance is ridiculous because it actually IS a splendid story!

I couldn't help but relate to the two female characters in the story; their experience of loss, disappointment, hope, and personal strength. I even cried like a baby when I read the end of chapter 8 and then again in chapter 51. It absolutely broke my heart.

This book is a complete MUST READ!!! And it would be such a shame to miss the opportunity to read something so well written without coming across contrived and try-hard. It is honest, raw and passionate.

READ IT!!! You won't regret it.

Dazzlingly written account of the lives of two women in an Afghanistan caught up in series of wars and an unforgiving culture. Their lives are a constant struggle against starvation, fear, abuse and their callous husband. But it is not all bleak. There is a lot of love in many different forms and beauty too at times and in places you would least expect. Not forgetting some startling twists and turns.

I expected this book to be a hard read as i am 14, but i found it very easy to read and it was extremely good. There was so many emotions to the story. I felt very sorry for miriam and laila. Their friendship broke all the barriers. A brilliant read. He shows how young these girls are but how mature they become and how their friendship grows over time. Even though it had some sad parts love won in the end!! a MUST READ!

I heartily agree with Peter Scott's review - "History through the eyes of ordinary people". Even more important, though, is the fact that the book's vibrant main characters - with whom any reader will quickly identify, unless they have hearts of stone - are women. It is through their eyes that we get the other side of the story of Afghanistan; the daily lived experience, told from way below the radar of the West's blaring headlines.
In spite of - or maybe because of? - all the attention focused on the Islamic world since 9/11, we are absurdly ignorant of its day-to-day realities, especially in relation to women: and this book is an eye-opener. Khaled Hosseini shows us a culture that is (like our own) full of contradictions and disparities - much more complex than the repressive religious monolith we Westerners all too easily imagine. He takes us into the lives of two very different women, where we experience, at first hand, both how limited their choices are within the tradition of female subservience and family "honour" - but also how brave and resourceful they are, as they manoeuvre within these limits for their own and their loved ones' survival. Meanwhile, distant politicians and religious leaders from Bush to Bin Laden may roar and haggle, but they solve nothing - just continue inexorably unleashing the warfare that has been sporadically reducing Kabul to rubble-strewn chaos for over a generation; and by the same token reducing the women's scope still further. Still, their spirit is by no means broken: the story ends on a note of hope and optimism for the future.
If you enjoy this, I suggest you check out Annie Hawes' new book "A Handful of Honey"; another eye-opener. Much more light-hearted, a North African traveller's tale, but with a similar focus on the resourcefulness of ordinary local people in these troubled times - and also full of surprising insights into the complex realities of the Muslim world today. (See my review)

The Kite Runner was one of the best books I have ever read and I think I approached A Thousand Splendid Suns with too much expectation. I was really looking forward to it and found it somewhat disappointing. There were bits that were superb - his writing is very evocative and I felt I could visualise everything and everywhere he was writing about - and many of the characters were very believable. But there were other bits that didn't ring true to me - particularly the attitude of the mother to her daughter, whilst waiting for her older sons to come back from the war, and also the way that Tariq returns after all. It all seemed a little too pat, as though Hosseini couldn't quite decide how to finish things off. And then there were bits that were so clever (if very traumatic) - the man at the bus station for instance - that I was transfixed again.

I would highly recommend this book but not as much as The Kite Runner....