If we can learn anything from authors such as Dan Brown and Danielle Steele (besides the obvious and imminent demise of literacy), it is that cookie cutter plot lines are in. It seems the world has regressed to adolescence, and gravitating toward the mushy middle has become key. Authors who stick with what they know become commercial successes, and it appears that real depth and insight have fallen by the wayside. The mediocrity bandwagon is leaving the station, and in recent years it has acquired a new member, Khaled Hosseini, of “Kite Runner” fame. Hosseini guides one-dimensional stereotypical figures dangerously close to the black hole of hokey sentimentality against the backdrop of a war-torn Afghanistan. However, in Hosseini’s case- it works.
 
Apparently lightening can strike the same place twice, as despite its contrived plot line, Hosseini’s second novel “A Thousand Splendid Suns” is sure to move the reader. As in his first novel, the vivid illustration of a country on the brink of ruin and the constant stream of emotional appeals are efficient in creating a temporary connection between his repeatedly downtrodden and victimized characters. His focus is resolutely on women: on mothers, daughters, wives and the relationships between them. It is clear early on that Hosseini’s view of the life of women in Afghanistan is bleak, and the reader learns quickly that “like a compass needle that points north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman. Always.”

Spanning the years from the 1960’s to 2003 and divided into four parts, the novel begins with Mariam - a harami, or bastard child, living with her mother, who, in fear of her daughter leaving, commits suicide. As an illegitimate daughter her stay in her father Jalil’s house is obviously short lived; an arrangement is soon made where she will be married to Rasheed, a man many years her senior. Violent and temperamental, attributes only heightened by Mariam’s inability to become pregnant, Rasheed maintains tight control over his wife and even forces her to wear a burqa.
 
When Hosseini introduces the reader to Laila, a conventional beauty, educated and adored by both parents, the story of Mariam, the prototypical victim is put on hold. Acting in counterpoint to Mariam, Laila appears to have it all, even a soul mate named Tariq. However, when a rocket kills both her parents and she finds herself pregnant and alone – as Tariq and his family are already refugees in Pakistan – she agrees to become the second wife of Rasheed in an effort to provide a life for herself and her unborn child. The novel proceeds to illustrate the growing friendship between the first and second wives of Rasheed, intertwining the story lines of the two women, mimicking the way in which their lives have become connected.
 
Ultimately, it is the depiction of this friendship and the connection between the two women, growing in the midst of turmoil and despair, which gives the story its heartbreaking poignancy. Hosseini’s touching and strong women echo with the reader, who - caught up in the emotional drama, is willing to overlook the novel’s numerous flaws.