PLOT SUMMARY OF NOVEL

• Part I of A Thousand Splendid Suns begins in the early 1970s, when Mariam is a
teenager living with her mother, Nana, in a kolba or small hut outside of the city of
Herat. We learn that Mariam is the illegitimate child or harami (“bastard”) of Nana
and Jalil a wealthy cinema owner in Herat. Mariam is taught to recite verses from
the Koran by Mullah Faizullah whom she looks up to and admires. Jalil comes to
visit Mariam every week, and though Nana tries to convince Mariam that Jalil is
embarrassed by her and refuses to consider her a true member of his family, to
Mariam, he can do no wrong.
• One day, against Jalil’s wishes, Mariam descends the hill into Herat for the very first
time in order to see him. She is told he isn’t there, and after spending the entire
night sleeping on his stoop, his chauffeur brings her back to the kolba, though not
before she has a glimpse of Jalil looking down at her from the window. Upon their
return, Mariam sees her mother hanging from a rope. She feels desperately guilty,
especially now that she knows Nana was right about Jalil. She loathes him even
more once he marries her off to Rasheed a shoe shop owner in Kabul thirty years
her senior.
• In Kabul, Mariam is astounded by the cosmopolitan atmosphere, though Rasheed
makes her wear a burqa and mainly stay within the home. Rasheed initially shows
Mariam around the city and buys her gifts, but after she suffers multiple
miscarriages he grows sullen and hostile, yelling at her and beating her.
• Part II shifts to the perspective of Laila who is growing up in
Kabul not far from Rasheed and Mariam’s house, but who is
getting an education thanks to her progressive father, Babi.
But Mammy, her mother, is depressed and unable to take care
of Laila because she so misses her two sons, Ahmad and Noor,
who have gone to fight with the Mujahideen against the
Soviets. Mammy’s depression worsens even more after the
two boys are killed. However, Laila has far more happy
childhood moments than Mariam, from her walks home from
school with her friends Giti and Hasina, to her lessons with
Babi and, above all, her friendship with the mischievous Tariq,
who lost one leg in a land mine accident when he was five.
Tariq and Laila together witness the departure of the Soviets
from Afghanistan. Their relationship turns romantic just as the
Mujahideen’s infighting begins, and they sleep together for
the first time just before Tariq’s family flees for Pakistan. Not
long after that, Laila’s family is preparing to leave as well when
a rocket hits their home and kills both her parents.
• Part III alternates between Mariam’s and Laila’s
point of view with each chapter. Rasheed digs Laila
out of the rubble of their home, and Mariam slowly
nurses him back to health. However, it soon
becomes clear that Rasheed’s apparent kindness
has hidden his true goal—to take Laila as his
second wife. Mariam begs him not to, but Rasheed
threatens to turn Laila out onto the streets. Laila
agrees to wed Rasheed—she has become pregnant
with Tariq’s child, and knows this is the only way to
save the baby and herself. Mariam despises Laila,
and the two live together in constant tension and
low-simmering hostility. Not long afterward, a man
named Abdul Sharif comes to the house and says
he was in a hospital with Tariq, whose lorry (truck)
had been caught in crossfire on the way to Pakistan
and who was gravely wounded and, Abdul Sharif
says, died.
• Part IV opens with Laila and Tariq living in Murree
and working at a hotel. Though Laila enjoys her life
in Pakistan, she knows that Mariam did not sacrifice
herself so that she could be a maid in a foreign
country. The family returns to Afghanistan, first
stopping at Herat. Laila meets Mullah Faizullah’s
son, Hamza, and sees where Mariam grew up.
Hamza gives her a box that Jalil had left for Mariam,
which includes a letter in which Jalil asks for
Mariam’s forgiveness and encloses her part of the
inheritance—a token arriving too late for Mariam.
• The novel closes with Laila working at the same
orphanage where she had sent Aziza, teaching and
working to renovate the building. She is pregnant
with her third child, and knows that if it’s a girl, the
baby will be named Mariam.
 HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF NOVEL
The novel takes place over approximately forty years, from the early 1970s, when
Mariam is a teenager, to 2003, when Laila is settled once again in Kabul with her
family. Throughout this time, Afghanistan was subjected to a series of violent,
brutal wars and numerous political coups. When the story opens, Afghanistan has
recently undergone a bloodless coup in 1973. In 1978, there is a Communist
counter-coup, and the Soviet Union invades in 1979. After battles with the
Mujahideen, or Islamic fighters supported by the United States, the Soviet Union
finally withdraws its last troops in 1989 and the Mujahideen take over. After a
decade of bloody infighting, the Taliban seize control and establish peace but also
an extremely strict Shari’a law. Finally, the book ends during the American
occupation of Afghanistan following the events of September 11, 2001. Hosseini
attempts to anchor the reader in this complex history, by showing how specific
historical events—the departure of the Soviets from Kabul, for instance, or the
arrival of the Taliban—impacts the lives of the characters. By interweaving historical
facts, often with dates and leaders’ names included, with the fictional narrative,
Hosseini helps to breathe life into what could be a confusing historical lesson for an
English-speaking audience. He also shows the extent to which politics has impacted
every Afghan person’s life over the past several decades.
 CHARACTER ANALYSIS
• The two main characters are Mariam and Laila. Mariam is a more
traditional woman, raised ten years or so before Laila. Mariam is
also more subservient than Laila, having had little education and a
mother who constantly berated her. Laila, on the other hand, even
though her mother also spent little time building up her
confidence, did have a loving father whose goal in life was to
ensure that she was educated. Aziza, the daughter of Laila and
Tariq, is portrayed as strong-willed and bright.
• The men in this story do not fare quite as well. Laila’s father is
honest and intelligent, but he is weak and caves in to his stronger
wife. Jalil also caves in to his three wives and does not stand up for
Mariam. Rasheed is a brute, and his son Zalmai is portrayed as
instinctively taking after him. Tariq, who is wounded and loses a leg
in his youth, is both tenderhearted and brave. He is not afraid to
admit his love for Laila and works hard to take care of his parents
and to rescue Laila.
 Key Facts about A Thousand Splendid
Suns
• Full Title: A Thousand Splendid Suns
• When Written: 2004-2007
• Where Written: California
• When Published: 2007
• Literary Period: Contemporary
• Genre: Novel
• Setting: Herat and Kabul, Afghanistan
• Climax: As Rasheed is preparing to choke Laila to death, Mariam kills him
with a shovel—thus ensuring both her own death, but also a hopeful future
for Laila and her family.
• Antagonist: Rasheed, Laila, and Mariam’s husband; the Taliban
• Point of View: The story is told in the third person, alternating between
Laila’s and Mariam’s point of view—the section and chapter divisions
specify which one. The narrator never deviates from the perspective of each
woman, but at times provides foreshadowing hints to the reader concerning
what awaits the characters.
• Extra Credit for A Thousand Splendid Suns