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Journal Entry 1 by camis from Tharston, Norfolk United Kingdom on Monday, February 11, 2008
 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 to grow as deep as the bond between sisters, as strong as the ties between mother and daughter. With the passing of time comes Taliban rule over Afghanistan, the streets of Kabul loud with the sound of gunfire and bombs, life a desperate struggle against starvation, brutality and fear, the women's endurance tested beyond their worst imaginings. Yet love can move a person to act in unexpected ways, lead them to overcome the most daunting obstacles with a startling heroism. In the end, it is love that triumphs over death and destruction. "A Thousand Splendid Suns" is an unforgettable portrait of a wounded country and a deeply moving story of family and friendship. It is a beautiful, heart-wrenching story of an unforgiving time, an unlikely bond and an indestructible love
I loved this book and offerred it up in the Best Of 2007 Swap on BookObsessed where it was won by Sidney1220, so this is now
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Journal Entry 3 by Sidney1220 from McLean, Virginia USA on Saturday, October 25, 2008
This is one deperessing book! After reading for hours about how one disaster after another befalls on Mariam and Laila, I just want it all to stop. It's kind of unsatisfying and anticlimactic since neither Mariam nor Laila was in charge of their own fate and remain passive throughout. But I guess that is the whole point, that there are women living in other parts of the world even now whose only option is to endure. As I was reading this book, every now and then it would hit me that this is not a story set in a distant past, but something set only a decade or so ago.
Still, this is a very good book from a master storyteller even though it won't win any wards for being the feel good book of the year.
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*A Thousand Splendid Suns
