A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
This is the saddest book I've ever read in my entire life, and also the most beautiful. I could not put it down, and I could not stop crying.
It follows two women, Mariam and Laila, as they fight to survive Afghanistan from the 70's to I think the early 2000's. It chronicles the rise and fall of the Taliban through the eyes of these women and their families.
It isn't a history book and I'm sure it's missing a lot of context from the angle of Afghanistan's history. But I did come out of the book with more knowledge about Afghani history than I went into it with, so that's not nothing. I wouldn't profess to be any sort of expert, or feel emboldened to do much more than listen and ask questions about the subject. But I appreciated the window that I did get into the cycle of oppressive regimes in the country.
I loved Mariam and Laila. They're very different women, separated by a generation. Mariam is the older of the two and she is hardened by a dreadful life, though she softens through her relationship with Laila. She learns that love is real, and she cherishes the moments when it fills her up. Laila grew up in a time of relative calm. She went to school and showed promise, and she knew love in many forms. It was an unending love burning within her that gave her the strength to go on when all of that collapsed.
The ending was somewhat tainted by what I know came later. Even though it's a fictional story, I couldn't help but trace the characters' lives forward to today. Still, this may be a book I return to now and then. It's a stunning story, despite the heartbreak of it all.