Hosseini's second one pulls at your heart strings as does his 'Kite Runner'.

A haunting tale
of two women in Afghanistan - a saga of misery, abuse, violence enmeshed in daily
existence in the backdrop of dark political changes- in a completely different setting from
my urban existence in world’s largest democracy - yet so relatable through the common
cord of sisterhood. (I was reminded of Tagore story "Kabuliwalla' where the author's
empathy for the misfortunate trader from Kabul was echoed in the words: 'I am a father
and he is also a father'.)

I did not realize how deeply the book had affected me till about a week after I had
finished it. I was aware of the fact that the book was wrecking havoc with my emotions –
and I was generally a bit low but It was only after I started upon a lighter read –
something I need do to clear my head- that I could related my depression to my
relationship with this book. I have not been this affected after a long time.

What makes the story palpable is the mastery of the storyteller to create coherent and
believable characters and finely weave a story of suffering, misery, pain, interpersonal
violence and abuse in everyday lives with the ravaging political changes of the country.
The parallel movement of life histories of the protagonists and the politico - historical
events; the shaping of their everyday lives by the reigning political diktat was simply
fascinating. An ordinary story made extraordinary.

Synopsis : Born a generation apart and with very different ideas about love and family,
Mariam and Laila are two women brought jarringly together by war, by loss and by fate.
As they endure the ever escalating dangers around them — in their home as well as in the
streets of Kabul — they come to form a bond that makes them both sisters and mother-
daughter to each other, and that will ultimately alter the course not just of their own lives
but of the next generation.