a book that broke my heart
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (2007).
The one that broke my teenage heart and have been doing so since 2008.
This book taught me about empathy. Especially towards a group of people that I was taught to hate due to the September 11th attacks. It’s a 402 pages long historical fiction which tells the story about two women between the years of 1960-2003 and their fight for survival being married to the same horrible man. A marriage filled with domestic abuse while a vicious war is going on in the streets of Kabul in Afghanistan. An incredible friendship and unexpected love is formed between the women, who share the same wish for surviving their loveless marriage and the violent misogynistic streets of the city they live in.
It also taught me about the power of sisterhood, that resilience is a bad motherfucker, the different cycles of violence, both physical and emotional. In your own home and outside of it. By the people closest to you and by people you don’t know. The absolute strength of motherhood and unwavering hope for change. And hope itself.
I shed a tear or eight the first time I read it and it got me hooked within the first page and I read the whole book in one sitting. Unfortunately, I started reading it on a school night at around 9pm. I was dizzy when I was finished because I had forgotten to eat and drink water, it’s that good! Other than We were liars, I’ve never read a book in one sitting. That alone makes me recommend it to everyone.
This story can be heavy at times with subjects such as child abuse, rape, domestic abuse and death. Look through this website of trigger warnings related to this book before you read it.
Life can truly be unfair at times.
This book made me realize my privilege and made me thankful for my life. It certainly wasn’t great at that time at all, but it could’ve been much worse. Although this is fiction, it broke my heart knowing that in some places in the world, there are people whos daily life is just as described in the book and not only in Afghanistan. I wish nothing but the absolute best for them.
”One last time, Mariam did as she was told.”
Look at the state of my copy. I must say that it looks really fucking good since I’ve had it for 16 years.
The pages now have a yellow tint to them when before they used to be eggshell white.
I truly treasure it and it’s THEE book I would save if my home was on fire. I love it so much.
I’m brushing up on my French (I used to speak it fluently as a kid) and decided to re-read this in French to re-learn the vocabulary and work on my pronunciation. I decided on working with a book I’ve already read whose story I love, but a story where I wouldn’t be too caught up on and lose focus. I must really love mizeria in my life because why did I choose this one!?
Honorable Mentions
A little life and We were liars. (links to my reviews)
Between these two, We were liars broke me way more than A little life did. Most definitely.
Plot twist of the fucking year with this one! But ALL broke me too. It was never his fault and he didn’t deserve everything that happened to him and kept happening to him.
I was googling to see what books made other people cry or break their heart. There was ONE book that was constantly mentioned; The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I own a copy of it but I’ve never read it. Maybe I should add it to my TBR-list of 2024.
