Shocking, revealing and thought-provoking (A Thousand Splendid Suns (Audio CD))

Member Name: isabellemaelzer

Product:	A Thousand Splendid Suns (Audio CD)
Date:	06/10/09 (17 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A beautifully narrated story

Disadvantages: NOT easy listening- do not listen to this if you are easily upset!

I listened to the Audio CD of A Thousand Splendid Suns several months ago now, whilst tackling a huge pile of ironing, and I still often think about this incredibly moving (and often very disturbing) story.

We hear so much about Afghanistan and the Taliban from the point of view of the military service, but this is the story of a deep friendship which evolves between two Afghan women, Mariam and Laila, who are living in Kabul when the Taliban first arrive with their ruthlessness and contempt for women. Laila is 15 when she is orphaned and her lover flees the war-stricken country. She feels she has no choice but to marry Rasheed, a cruel and violent man, who already has a wife - the reclusive and childless Mariam, 20 years Laila's senior. Due to their very different upbringings, Laila's success in bearing children and Rasheed's (short-lived) affection for Laila, Mariam deeply resents her husband's new wife at first. However, in a short time, these women, through enduring unbelievable repression, violence and hardship at the hands of their husband and the Taliban, form a powerful friendship and bond, which leads, ultimately, to an act of the greatest self-sacrifice imaginable.

I absolutely loved this Audio Book and I had a lot of well-ironed tea-towels and pillow cases by the end of it! Leoni Atossa narrates beautifully and it was good to hear the pronunciation of the names and places.

This is not a feel-good book. It is shocking and eye-opening and made me actually sob. But I loved it and highly recommend it.

Summary: A deeply moving account of love, friendship and violent oppression