Khaled Hosseini

Reflecting on his childhood in Afghanistan, the protagonist recalls a pivotal incident that shaped his life. Raised in a comfortable Kabul home with his father, the pair were served by two Hazara servants, Ali and his son Hassan. Amidst political turmoil in Afghanistan, the protagonist and Hassan encounter three boys who threaten them due to Hassan's ethnicity. The confrontation is resolved by Hassan's quick thinking with his slingshot. During a kite-fighting tournament, the protagonist wins but Hassan, who attempts to retrieve the kite, gets trapped and sexually assaulted by the same boys. Overcome with guilt, the protagonist cannot face Hassan and orchestrates a plot that results in Hassan and Ali moving away.

Fast forward to 1981, the protagonist and his father are forced to escape war-torn Kabul, finding sanctuary in Pakistan. After two years, they relocate to California, where his father works at a gas station while the protagonist graduates high school and enters college. He meets and marries Soraya, the daughter of his father's acquaintance. His father, diagnosed with lung cancer, passes away shortly after their wedding. The protagonist and Soraya try unsuccessfully to have children, while he focuses on his writing career. 

An unexpected call from his father's old friend, Rahim Khan, reveals shocking news: Hassan was killed by the Taliban and left behind a son, Sohrab. The protagonist learns that his father was also Hassan's father, making Sohrab his nephew. Tasked with bringing Sohrab to Pakistan, he learns that Sohrab was taken by a Taliban official, who turns out to be one of the boys from their childhood encounter. After facing physical violence, the protagonist and Sohrab manage to escape. The protagonist brings Sohrab to the U.S, where they face challenges in his adoption and mental health. However, a nostalgic kite-flying experience sparks a small but hopeful change in Sohrab, hinting at a potential for healing and a brighter future.

The Kite Runner

In the mid-20th century Afghanistan, two girls' lives unfold in interspersing narratives. Mariam, an illegitimate child born in the 1950s, lives a secluded life with her mother Nana in a shack provided by her father, Jalil. Despite yearning for her father's acceptance, she is confronted with disappointments, including Jalil breaking a promise to celebrate her fifteenth birthday, igniting her to leave home in search of him. When she returns, she finds her mother has tragically committed suicide. Feeling responsible and seeking solace from her father's rejection, she is ultimately married off to a shoemaker, Rasheed, who is thirty years her senior and is sent to Kabul, marking the end of her contact with her father.

In the same city, in the late 1970s, we meet Laila, born amidst the political chaos and communist revolution. Her narrative is tinged with grief for her brothers' loss in the Afghan resistance against Soviet Russia and her mother's subsequent depression. Laila's solace comes in the form of her father, a university teacher, and Tariq, her protective friend. Their friendship deepens into an intimate relationship, but Tariq's family's sudden departure from war-ridden Kabul leaves Laila devastated. After losing her parents in a rocket attack, she is rescued by Rasheed and Mariam, leading to an unexpected marriage proposal from Rasheed. Now pregnant with Tariq's child, she accepts the proposal and falsely claims Rasheed as the father of her unborn child.

Rasheed's oppressive patriarchal rule, further enabled by the Taliban regime, brings both wives under abusive control. When the truth of Laila's daughter's paternity emerges, Rasheed's aggression escalates. Eventually, Laila bears him a son, but Rasheed's financial instability forces her to place her daughter in an orphanage. The revelation of Tariq's survival sparks a series of events culminating in Mariam killing Rasheed to protect Laila. To safeguard Laila and her children, Mariam takes sole responsibility for the murder and faces a death sentence. Laila, Tariq, and the children find refuge in Pakistan, eventually returning to a restored Kabul. Using the money bequeathed by Mariam's father to her, they renovate the orphanage and Laila, now pregnant, takes a teaching position there, honoring the legacy of the woman who saved her life.

Khaled Hosseini Books in Order (4 Book Series)

The Kite Runner

A Thousand Splendid Suns

And the Mountains Echoed

Sea Prayer

What To Read Next

Khaled Hosseini Books in Order (4 Book Series)

The Kite Runner

A Thousand Splendid Suns

And the Mountains Echoed

Sea Prayer

What To Read Next

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