'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 grow as deep as the bond between sisters, as strong as the ties between mother and daughter.'
This book is stunning. Hossieni (best known for The Kite Runner) depicts Afghanistan in stunning detail, almost as though you are actually there, watching the-at times-horrifying events unfold before you. Certain instances, like a scene where Rasheed forces Mariam to eat a handful of stones because that it is apparently how her rice tastes, stay firmly with you.
The bitter patriachal society is perfectly shown-in the above instance-the appearance of a burkha within the first few days of Mariam's marriage, the violence released when Rasheed realises that his second wife and mother of his survivng son Laila loves another man and the hideous unfairness of the court proceedings against one of the characters, ending in a hideous punishment that was grossly unnecessary.
Whilst I, and many others, are unsure of the real reasons for the UK's (and USA's) involvement in Afgahnistan and Iraq, having read this novel, I can only hope that the future for the young women now holds far more promise than when they were under the control of the Taleban.
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