June Meetup - A Thousand Splendid Suns

The host of this month's meetup - Marilyn

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Book Description
After 103 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and with four million copies of The Kite Runner shipped, Khaled Hosseini returns with a beautiful, riveting, and haunting novel that confirms his place as one of the most important literary writers today.

Propelled by the same superb instinct for storytelling that made The Kite Runner a beloved classic, A Thousand Splendid Suns is at once an incredible chronicle of thirty years of Afghan history and a deeply moving story of family, friendship, faith, and the salvation to be found in love.

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. With heart-wrenching power and suspense, Hosseini shows how a woman's love for her family can move her to shocking and heroic acts of self-sacrifice, and that in the end it is love, or even the memory of love, that is often the key to survival.

A stunning accomplishment, A Thousand Splendid Suns is a haunting, heartbreaking, compelling story of an unforgiving time, an unlikely friendship, and an indestructible love.

Reviews

The New York Times - Lisa See
Hosseini succeeds in carrying readers along because he understands the power of emotion as few other popular writers do. As he did in The Kite Runner, he uses a melodramatic plot to convey vividly the many aspects of love and the ways people sacrifice themselves for those they hold dear. With A Thousand Splendid Suns, Hosseini has shown that he doesn?t intend to be a one-hit wonder. It will be interesting to see where he goes from here.

O, the Oprah Magazine, June 2007
Love may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you consider the war-ravaged landscape of Afghanistan. But that is the emotion-subterranean, powerful, beautiful, illicit, and infinitely patient-that suffuses the pages of Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns

The Meetup Location: Neomonde Bakery & Deli
Neomonde Bakery & Deli Website

Founded 30 years ago by brothers who came to America from the mountainous region of northern Lebanon, Neomonde has a spirit all its own. That's because the Saleh brothers Samir ("Sam"), Joseph ("Joe"), Mounir, and DeGaulle decided long ago that anything they sell must be good enough to serve their own family. They consider it their responsibility as ambassadors of their country and their culture to provide nothing less than the best.

Editorial Review for Neomonde Restaurant & Deli by Neha Shah
Travel to a faraway land without going outside the Triangle when you visit this deli. Taste tests are available if you feel tentative about anything too exotic. Roam the shelves while you wait and discover spices, sweets, snacks and more. The deli itself is sparse and clean and the pungent smells of colorful dishes wafts throughout. The falafel (baked fresh daily) is a must, as are the other breads baked here.

Best of the Triangle
2007 Best Middle Eastern Cuisine
2006 Best Middle Eastern Cuisine
2005 Best Middle Eastern Cuisine