A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Violence against women is widespread throughout the world. Statistics are difficult to obtain, but even with limited statistics, one-fourth to one-third of the women of the world report being abused by husbands or partners, and police believe that only one-third of instances of domestic violence are reported. Violence against women occurs in all societies, including the United States and Europe.
In some societies, women and girls are dominated by males and treated as property, as slaves, whose principal purpose in life is to serve their husbands. They are given in marriage and expected to serve and obey their husbands, and if they fail in this duty, they are subjected to violence. If they try to escape, they are subjected to violence. They have virtually no individual freedoms in life.
This book is about two women who become slaves to a husband. One of the women grows up as an illegitimate girl who is not accepted by her father; the other grows up as the favored daughter of a university professor. Both become the wife to a man who has been taught and believes in the customs of his society -- that women are slaves to their husband. Although they are of different ages and different backgrounds, they are treated the same by their husband. They become his wives at different times, twenty years apart, and at first, the older one resents the younger one. However, their treatment by their husband leads them eventually to become friends and allies in their attempt to escape their slavery.
This book is about domestic violence and customs in Afghanistan; however, it could have been written about domestic violence in many societies. Although women are not treated as slaves in all societies, women are subjected to violence by their husbands in all societies. The author was born in Afghanistan and lived there for eleven years. He went back to visit in 2003, and after meeting and talking with many women, decided to write this book about customs regarding women in Afghanistan. I do not know how accurately it depicts life for women in Afghanistan. It is a book of fiction, and not a sociological study.
This book is not a great book, but it is a book that captures one's attention and emotions. It is an interesting story, and it is believable. In order for me to like a book, I must find it believable. I like this book much better than Kite Runner because as I have mentioned previously, I found much of Kite Runner to be unbelievable melodrama. This book is sad. It is not a happy book. The lives of these women were sad, unhappy lives. But I found it interesting to read about the lives of women in that society. All in all, I liked this book.
