Thousand Splendid Suns is a non-fiction book written by Khaled Hosseini. The story is about two different girls, Mariam and Laila, who live in Afghanistan and are brought together through war.

Part One: The story begins with Mariam, a 15 year old girl living with her mother, Nana, in a kolba (shack) in Gul Daman, Afghanistan. Mariam is a child born out of wedlock. Nana used to work for Mariam’s father, Jalil, until his family found out that she was pregnant. Jalil made a deal with his wives to have Nana live out in Gul Daman, a small village on the outskirts of Herat. Jalil visits Mariam every thursday. Jalil is a wealthy businessman and owns a cinema in Herat. He has three wives and nine children. For Mariam’s birthday she asks if Jalil will take her to his cinema, he says that he will try but on her birthday he never shows. Mariam leaves Nana and walks to Herat to see her father. When she gets there she is turned away and is taken home in a cab. Coming home she finds Nana dead. Mariam goes back to Jalil’s house and stays in his guest bedroom. She is soon married off to a shoemaker named Rasheed who takes her to his home in Kabul, miles away from Herat.

Part Two: Chapter 16 introduces Laila, a nine year old girl who lives on the same block as Mariam and Rasheed. As Laila is getting ready for school she hears her mother and father arguing. Her parents always argue, ever since her father let her brothers go off to war. Although she is upset that her parents are bickering she is upset that her friend, Tariq, is away visiting family. Laila goes to school with her friends Hasina and Giti. On the way back they talk about how Laila will be the only one in the group that won’t get married off to a suitor. Tariq returns home and Laila is now happy. As Laila and Tariq get older they start to develope feelings for each other. The war has become so bad that people are fleeing out of Afghanistan. Tariq and his family decide to leave for Pakistan. Before he goes he asked Laila if she will marry him. As much as she wants to say yes she tells him no. Laila’s family decides to leave thirteen days after Tariq has gone, but before they can leave their house it is blown to pieces by a rocket.

Part Three: Laila is taken in by Rasheed and Mariam. They care for her while she continues to heal from the explosion. Rasheed marries Laila so people won’t talk about there being an unmarried woman in their house. Laila is pregnant with Tariq’s baby but makes it seem like it’s Rasheed’s. Rasheed is happy about the child until they come home from the hospital and it turns out the baby is a girl. Laila names her Aziza and cares for her while Rasheed takes no notice of the child. Mariam begins to bond with Aziza and Laila. One night while Laila is braiding Mariam’s hair, Laila tells Mariam of her plan to run away with Aziza. Laila and Mariam plan to run away together that upcoming spring. Their plan backfires and Rasheed punishes them both. Laila  is pregnant again but actually with Rasheed’s child. He names him Zalmai. Poverty hits the city and Rasheed makes them sell everything, and give Aziza to an orphanage. One day while Mariam, Laila and Zalmai are coming home from visiting Aziza, Tariq shows up at the door. At dinner Zalmai mentions the stranger at the door to Rasheed. Rasheed beats Laila to the point of death. But Mariam grabs a shovel and kills Rasheed with it. Tariq takes Laila, Aziza and Zalmai to Murree, Pakistan. Mariam stays behind and is killed for murder.

Part Four: Laila and Tariq get married and they work together at a hotel cleaning rooms. They decide to move back to Kabul to help repair the city. Before they return Laila visits Herat, where Mariam used to live. She goes to the kolba and says her farewells to Mariam. Laila and Tariq work at the orphanage that Aziza went to. Laila teaches classes there. At the end of the book Laila is pregnant again. The family fights about boy names but don’t fight about girl names cause if its a girl Laila is naming her Mariam.