1. A Thousand Splendid Suns
Introduction

2. Part I- Summary (Mariam)
Mariam is a young girl who lives with her mother in a small village.
Her mother calls her a harami-illegitimate child when she is 5
Mariam’s father Jalil vists her for a few hours once a week. They have a very good relationship and he is affectionate towards Mariam. Her mother always criticizes him after the visits.
Jalil has a current wife and 9 legitimate children and owns a few businesses
Nana (Mariam’s mother) used to be Jalil’s housekeeper and they had an affair that resulted in Mariam. His family shamed him and he now provides housing for Nana and Mariam in the village.
Nana and Jalil give Mariam different stories of her birth

3. Part 1 continued
Few people visit Nana and Mariam. Bibi Jo- gossips with Nana and Mullah Faizzullah who teachers Mariam verses of the Koran
Mariam wants to go to school but her mother refuses and says its not necessary.
Mariam wants her father to take her to his theater and he avoids the question. He instead gives her a necklace.
Nana is furious and tells Mariam she will die if she leaves her.
Mariam waits for Jalil to pick her up and he nevers shows so she goes to his home in Herat.
After a debacle she sees Jalil has been watching the whole time and when she returns home Nana has hung herself

4. Part I continued Mariam is sent to live with Jalil
They force her to marry a man named Rasheed
She protests but Jalil sides with his wives
After the marriage she says her goodbyes to Jalil and expresses her utter disappointment in him and he is upset
Mariam and Rasheed arrive in Kabul
Mariam is very upset the whole time he is giving her a tour of their home and Rasheed only complains about the sound of women crying.
Mariam is shown her room and Rasheed tells her they have separate rooms because he likes to sleep alone

5. Part 2- Laila Laila and Tariq are best friends
Laila’s parents argue before she goes to school which is usual for her
When she gets home she tells her mother who is in bed (where she spends most of her time) her mother does not respond to the incident.
When Tariq returns he stands up for Laila
Laila is eating dinner with her family when a knock on the door interrupts their meal …who announces her brothers have died in war.
Laila’s mother spirals downward after the funeral and she confesses she wasn’t the greatest mother to her.
They all dream of leaving the chaos and going to the US

6. Part 2-
Tensions have risen between different ethnic groups within the country it is so bad Laila will not leave her house or walk the streets without Tariq
She is eventually homeschooled
Tariq and his family are leaving for Pakistan and Laila and he share and intimate moment.
Tariq wants Laila to marry him but she wont leave her father with her ailing mother
Tariq promises to come back for her.
Mammy decides she wants to leave to Lailas surprise but while they are packing a bomb hits their home and kills her parents and she somehow survives.

7. Part 1 continued
Mariam does not do much and one day Rasheed tells her she needs to start acting like a wife.
He is pleased with the first meal she prepares
Rasheed says he will take her around Kabul tomorrow
He makes her wear a burqa around town and buys her ice cream
Rasheed and Mariam consummate their marriage
While Rasheed is gone for days Mariam cleans and finds a picture of his first wife and now dead son.
Mariam becomes pregnant and Jalil makes it clear he wants it to be a boy

8. Part 1 continued
Mariam suffers a miscarriage and Jalil’s attitude towards her changes
Mariam holds her own ceremony for the baby
Mariam suffers 6 miscarriages increasing Rasheed’s hostility
Fariba their neighbor gives birth to a daughter named Laila and the city is under attack.
Rasheed is unhappy with his meal and forces Mariam to eat pebbles because the rice is overcooked.
It breaks two of her molars.