A Thousand Splendid Suns Characters

If Laila went to your school, she'd be one of the cool kids. She's pretty, smart, and confident. That's a triple threat. Unfortunately for Laila, she lives in Afghanistan during one of the toughest...

We're going to let you in on a little secret—Mariam is the real hero of A Thousand Splendid Suns. At first glance, you might be tempted to think of Laila as the novel's hero. She's the one who su...

There are some characters that seem like bad guys at first glance but reveal a soft heart when you look a little deeper. They might do bad things, but you can understand their struggles and get som...

If ABC decides to start filming The Bachelor: Kabul, then we'd like to formally nominate Tariq for the role. Tariq is the one-legged Romeo, the Ryan Gosling of Afghanistan, the hunk to end all hunk...

Aziza is a sponge. Like most kids, she soaks up the influence of her environment. The only catch is that she doesn't discriminate—she soaks up the good and the bad alike. That can be a dangerous...

We're not going to sugarcoat it: Babi is a nerd. Frankly, we wouldn't be surprised to find a Dungeons and Dragons T-shirt in his closet. He probably wears a calculator watch. We're not haters, thou...

If we got the cast of A Thousand Splendid Suns to put on a stage production of The Wizard of Oz, then there's no doubt that Jalil would play the part of the cowardly lion. Jalil is conflicted about...

It wouldn't be too shocking to say that Laila has mommy issues. Her mother, Fariba, pretty much loses her mind when her sons go to war and never quite finds it again. This puts a lot of strain on M...

Mullah Faizullah is the conscience perched on Mariam's shoulder. Even when things are the darkest, she can think about the scripture that he taught her and find some relief. The Mullah is Mariam's...

Nana has had a hard life, and it has made her into a hard woman. It's hard to look at her story and not feel compassion for her struggles, though; after all, she raised Mariam all by herself—most...

Zalmai's personality lands somewhere between his parents, Laila and Rasheed. When he's with Laila, he takes on a sweet disposition and looks up to his big sister Aziza. When he's with Rasheed, howe...