« Joseph will return to Canaan, do not grieve, the hovels will turn into rose gardens, do not grieve. If a flood comes to drown all living, Noah is your guide in the eye of the typhoon, do not grieve (Hosseini 365). A Thousand Splendid Suns, written by Khaled Hosseini, is a story set in modern-day Afghanistan. This is a film that depicts the lives of two particular women who live under the control of a persecuting husband and the infamous Taliban regime. And through these two women (Laila and Mariam), Hosseini creates a breathtaking and awe-inspiring adventure of regret, despair, tragedy and, most importantly, redemption. The book begins with the distinct perspectives of each woman and how they consequently come together in the same household. Mariam, to begin with, is actually the result of the shameful act that her father, Jalil Khan, a wealthy businessman from Herat, committed by impregnating one of his servants. As a result, Mariam was forced to live in the countryside with her mother, Nana (who committed suicide), and was eventually forced to marry as a teenager to a man named Rasheed. Secondly, Laila is a young girl whose family environment is not the best: her parents are always fighting and her brothers, whom she barely remembers, are at war against the Soviets. Despite the difficult life she is forced to live, she always seems to find comfort in her lover, Tariq. However, when the Taliban finally came to power, her parents quickly became victims of the violent bombings of Kabul and she was immediately orphaned. Then, as if by chance or luck, Rasheed finds Laila, pulls her out of the rubble and ends up marrying her. As Mariam and Laila form a mutual bond and lasting friendship, each soon realizes the angel...... middle of paper ...... expressed in a focused and realistic manner, but it also sheds some light on the real Afghan. culture. Khaled Hosseini is a master at grabbing the reader's attention from the start and, by the end, leaving them wanting to know more. By reading this story, I was able to see Afghanistan from the female perspective, rather than the male perspective in Hosseini's other book, The Kite Runner. It was certainly a joy to read; however, the story was slow at times, but intense at others. Overall, I would recommend this book to others, not only because it is a great story, but also because it gives the reader some awareness of the violence that is actually happening in Afghanistan right now even. To some, Afghanistan may seem like a country torn apart by violence and destruction, but to others, it is a country that shines with its own true beauty...