如果注定要面對悲慘的命運，我們該將何去何從？
15歲的私生女瑪黎安，與母親相依為命住在山區簡陋的小屋，最大的心願就是和 父親一起看電影過生日，沒想到卻導致母親自殺，更讓自己被迫嫁給一位40歲的鰥夫鞋商。20年後，出身中產家庭、受過良好教養的15歲少女萊拉，在戰火中 失去所有的親人，為求生存，不得不也選擇嫁給瑪黎安性情乖戾的丈夫。
瑪黎安與萊拉儘管相差了19歲，對於愛和家庭的概念大不相同，但兩人的命運卻因為戰爭、喪親而交纏在一起。在共同歷經了丈夫的凌虐之後，她們不但情同姊妹，甚至更如同母女般相互依存，最後還扭轉了自己的人生道路。
作者以感人至深的力道，描繪了阿富汗女性在砲火、飢餓、暴虐與恐懼之下，如何絕望地忍受煎熬苦難，與命運搏鬥，以及她們如何憑藉著對家庭的愛，勇敢地犧牲自我，而最終，也是愛，或者說，是對愛的記憶，支撐倖存者勇敢活下去。
這是一個讓人難以忘懷、心碎的故事，關於一個殘酷的年代、一段不可能的友誼和永遠無法毀滅的愛。
而儘管生命充滿苦痛與辛酸，但每一段悲痛的故事中都能讓人見到微弱的希望曙光。
時空跨越三十年的揪心記錄，一部關於家庭、友誼、信念和自我救贖的動人故事。《燦爛千陽》再次以阿富汗戰亂為背景，用細膩感人的筆觸描繪了阿富汗舊制度與新時代下苦苦掙扎的婦女，她們所懷抱的希望、愛情、夢想與所有的失落。
本書中文版由「木馬文化」出版。
【得獎記錄】
★亞瑪遜網路書店2007年度之書
★時人雜誌 2007 年度十大好書
★時代週刊2007 年度十大好書
★邦諾書店2007 年度十大好書第一名
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.
【媒體讚譽】
”Afghan-American novelist Khaled Hosseini follows up his bestselling The Kite Runner with another searing epic of Afghanistan in turmoil. . . . Hosseini gives a forceful but nuanced portrait
of a patriarchal despotism where women are agonizingly dependent on fathers, husbands and especially sons, the bearing of male children being their sole path to social status His tale is a
powerful, harr owing depiction of Afghanistan, but also a lyrical evocation of the lives and enduring hopes of its resilient characters.” -Publishers Weekly (starred review)
”Hosseini’s magnificent second novel is a sad and beautiful testament to both Afghani suffering and strength. Readers who lost themselves in The Kite Runner will not want to miss this
unforgettable follow up.” -Booklist (starred review)
”A fine risk-taking novel about two-victimized but courageous Afghan women….Another artistic triumph, and surefire bestseller, for this fearless writer.” -Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
【作者簡介】
卡勒德．胡賽尼（Khaled Hosseini）
1965年生於喀布爾。父親是外交官，1980年因蘇聯入侵阿富汗，全家尋求政治庇護移民美國。胡賽尼畢業於加州大學聖地牙哥醫學系， 現居美國加州執業。2006年榮獲聯合國首屆人道主義獎。The Kite Runner（《追風箏的孩子》，中譯本由木馬文化出版）是他的第一本處女作，出版後大獲好評，獲得各項新人獎，並躍居全美各大暢銷排行榜。A Thousand Splendid
Suns是他的第二本著作。
