Read this when
A Thousand Splendid Suns
Two women married to the same abusive man. Everyone expected them to hate each other. Instead they saved each other.
Who it's for
Mariam and Laila begin as rivals married to the same abusive man, Rasheed, and slowly become each other's family.
Hopeless→Empowered
Feelings it meets
What it is
Khaled Hosseini's 2007 novel follows two Afghan women across several decades. Mariam, born outside marriage in Herat, is forced as a teenager to marry Rasheed, a much older Kabul shoemaker; years later the younger Laila, orphaned by rocket attacks during the civil war, becomes his second wife.
Where to find it
In print; widely available from libraries (Libby/Hoopla) and as an audiobook. Not public domain in the US.
Before you start
Heads up: A mother's suicide and marital rape.
Age: Ages 16+
Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this, when body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigour;Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, Chapter XXVII
