Miriam is born in 1959 into a hard life in Afghanistan to a bitter and unhappy woman. Her mother is angry at Miriam's father, because, when she became pregnant, instead of marrying her, he set her up in a little hut on the edge of town. She and Miriam live as outcasts. Miriam's mother tries to teach her daughter the facts of life for women: "Like a compass needle that points north, a man's accusing finger always finds a woman. Always." And, "It's our lot in life, Miriam. Women like us. We endure. It's all we have." Despite this, Miriam loves her father desperately. When the Disney cartoon "Pinocchio" comes to town, Miriam wants to see it so badly she runs away from her mother and goes to her father's house in town. He refuses to see her and won't even open the door. She spends the night sitting in front of the door and in the morning she is taken home by her father's driver only to discover her mother has killed herself in her absence. Her mother was sure her daughter had abandoned her forever. Miriam's father finally takes her into his home, but only for a few weeks. He arranges for her to marry a shoemaker from Kabul. The shoemaker, Rasheed, is a widower and much older than Miriam. He wants to get married again because he wants a son. Miriam gets pregnant many times, but always miscarries. Her life with Rasheed is miserable. He blames her for the miscarriages and he beats and belittles her.
In the neighborhood where Miriam lives is a beautiful girl named Laila who has a crush on a boy, Tariq. Tariq's family leaves Kabul when the civil war makes life there dangerous. He says goodbye to Laila and they have intercourse. Laila's family also decides to leave, but are killed in a bomb blast. Laila survives and is taken in by Rasheed and Miriam.
Rasheed is lusting after Laila and wants her to marry him. Rasheed knows she is in love with Tariq so he arranges for a man to come and tell Laila that Tariq is dead. Laila has no one she can turn to and she knows she is carrying Tariq's baby. So she agrees to marry Rasheed. At first, she and Miriam don't get along because Miriam resents her. Laila gives birth to a baby girl and Rasheed is angry and disappointed.
Laila and Miriam become allies against Rasheed and they try to flee Kabul and escape his terrible abuse. They are caught and returned to him and he punishes them cruelly. Later, Laila finally gives birth to a boy, but Rasheed never forgives her for trying to escape him.
Hard times come and money is scarce. Rasheed forces Laila to put her little girl in an orphanage. This crushes Laila and Miriam, they both love the little girl dearly. Then one day, Tariq shows up, looking for Laila. Laila's son tattles to his father about Laila's male visitor and Rasheed goes ballistic. Laila and Miriam are in a fight for their lives.
I found this book very griping and well worth reading. It is a revealing look at life in Afghanistan in a society that views women as property whose only function is to produce and rear children. Although I was aware of the bare facts of life for women under the brutal and repressive Taliban, still it was fascinating reading about the lives of these two women. I really enjoyed this book.
For a more complete summary of the novel, visit Wikipedia.
Review by Natasha Walter in The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/may/19/featuresreviews.guardianreview21.
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