Tausend strahlende Sonnen

Mariam, born out of wedlock in Herat, is married off at fifteen to Rasheed, a shoemaker from Kabul who is decades older. Laila, a younger neighbor, loses her family in a rocket attack and becomes Rasheed's second wife. At first the two women are rivals, but under Rasheed's violence they become allies and then something like family. The story covers three decades of Afghan history, from the Soviet invasion through the civil war to the Taliban years and the American bombing in 2001.

Recommended for readers who want a moving story of women's endurance in an unstable country. You finish with a deeper feeling for the human cost of war.

Inward-looking and contemplative; a moderate read.

Best for readers like The Empathetic Explorer. Which reader are you?