A book I could not put down - A Thousand Splendid Suns

I don't want to give too much away because one of the best things I found when going through the journey within this book was the element of surprise! 

The book was by far the best book that gripped me from start to finish with me finishing it under 3 days.

What I will say about "A Thousand Splendid Suns" is that it is set in Afganistan starting off with a young girl called Marium who was born out of marriage. Her mother is a miserable woman who bullies Marium calling and cussing her with words like, "harami" (harami meaning unlawful). On the other hand, Marium's ray of sunshine is her dear father who only visits her once a week. She waits for him all day wearing her best clothes whilst putting up with her mother's jealous and callous words. However Marium's father may not be as charming and sincere as Marium thinks.

You also come across another girl called Laila intoduced later in Marium's life where Housseini swaps the narrative from Marium to Laila. At first I was annoyed at this swap of narration. I had invested an emotional attachment with Marium thus I was reluctant to leave her story and moving on to another perspective who was much happier and content with life. I wanted to know more about Marium and I couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen to her while I leave? But Housseini had his reasons for doing this. Marium and Laila's lives may be more intertwined than we readers think. 

At the end of the very last page of, "A Thousand Splendid Suns", I was so very emotionally drained and stunned. It was a HUGE culture clash and made me feel grateful of having an education and being able to use it to my full potential as a female. 

This is the book I would recommend as a MUST READ. This novel failed to make me put the book down and I devoured the words. It made me hope, smile, feel angry and tearful. I can remember being up at socially unacceptable times of the morning, angrily slamming the book down only to quickly pick the book up again. The plot was beautiful with equally stunning twists which I loved. I don't know how else to 'big-up' this wonderful story other than to say please, please read it! What I will leave you with is the fact that you will be in a whirlwind of emotions within reading the 372 pages of brilliance.