After more than two years on the bestseller lists, Khaled Hosseini returns with a beautiful, riveting, and haunting novel of enormous contemporary relevance.
A Thousand Splendid Suns is a breathtaking story set against the volatile events of Afghanistan’s last thirty years—from the Soviet invasion to the reign of the Taliban to post-Taliban rebuilding—that puts the violence, fear, hope, and faith of this country in intimate, human terms. It is a tale of two generations of characters brought jarringly together by the tragic sweep of war, where personal lives—the struggle to survive, raise a family, find happiness—are inextricable from the history playing out around them.
Propelled by the same storytelling instinct that made The Kite Runner a beloved classic, A Thousand Splendid Suns is at once a remarkable chronicle of three decades of Afghan history and a deeply moving account of family and friendship. It is a striking, heart-wrenching novel of an unforgiving time, an unlikely friendship, and an indestructible love—a stunning accomplishment.
Download and start listening now!
"Wow! This book is going to stick with me! If The Kite Runner was the burley and A Thousand Splendid Suns was the hook, line and sinker! I have a new earned respect for the “real” Afghanis. Having just read The Kite Runner and been introduced to life in Afghanistan, I thought I’d follow on with the author’s voice in my head to his next book. Previously, I had only known Afghanistan and it’s people through news reports from around the time of the Soviet invasion. This book happened to references the movie Titanic. That turned out to be a metaphor for how much I actually knew about the history of Afghanistan and it’s people. Khaled was able to put me in the room with Mariam and Laila. I didn’t just understand and follow their story, I “felt” their joy and pain. This book was a whole level up from The Kite Runner. Written in 2007. The events of August 2021 only make this a more powerful, must-read book! "
— Em (5 out of 5 stars)
“[Love] is the emotion—subterranean, powerful, beautiful, illicit, and infitely patient—that suffuses the pages of Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns.”
— O, The Oprah Magazine“Spectacular…Hosseini’s writing makes our hearts ache, our stomachs clench, and our emotions reel.”
— USA Today“A brave, honorable, big-hearted book.”
— Washington Post Book World“Hosseini has the storytelling gift…[He] offers us the sweep of historic upheavals narrated with the intimacy of family and village life.”
— Los Angeles Times“Hosseini’s bewitching narrative captures the intimate details of life in a world where it’s a struggle to survive, skillfully inserting this human story in to the larger backdrop of recent history.”
— San Francisco Chronicle" Understanding our involvement in Afghanistan requires that we understand something about its culture. The author provides a spellbinding glimpse at living in the war-torn, tribal culture. "
— Bruce, 8/27/2017" As riveting as The Kite Runner and just as touching. "
— Debbie, 2/6/2014" It pulls the reader to be more more curious! "
— Zonah, 1/31/2014" I didn't think Hosseini could write better or even equally as well as The Kite Runner. I was mistaken. A Thousand Splendind Suns is beautiful, heart-wrenching, and it made me cry not once or twice, but several times. This is a must-read! "
— Aneta, 1/25/2014" Too cruel. Couldn't finish reading "
— Conny, 1/5/2014" I loved loved loved this book. It is very intense at times. I cared about the characters. This is a story that is an important story. "
— Caitlin, 11/30/2013" fantastic, I cried a couple times... soo good "
— Andrew, 11/27/2013" It was the first time I was reading from Khaled Hosseini. Book gives you a glimpse of Afghan women in their daily life. "
— Javad, 11/15/2013" This book was closer to 3.5 stars. There were just a few too many parts that seemed to drag on; this could be because I have just also finished the Kite Runner...maybe too much of one author at once. "
— Renee, 10/27/2013" Even better than The Kite Runner. A devastating read that gives a picture of what it would be like to live under those circumstances. "
— Jan, 10/19/2013" Remarkable story... a true reflection of a woman's status in a country that has little value of women. "
— Angela, 9/15/2013Khaled Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, and moved to the United States in 1980. His first novel, The Kite Runner, was an international bestseller, published in forty countries. In 2006 he was named a US envoy to UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency. He lives in Northern California.
Atossa Leoni has been working internationally in film, television, and theater since childhood. Atossa played the female lead “Soraya” in Marc Forster’s film The Kite Runner, based on Khaled Hosseini’s bestselling novel. She currently resides in New York City.