Hosseini¿s third novel (after A Thousand Splendid Suns) follows a close-knit but oft-separated Afghan family through love, wars, and losses more painful than death. The story opens in 1952 in the village of Shadbagh, outside of Kabul, as a laborer, Kaboor, relates a haunting parable of triumph and loss to his son, Abdullah. The novel¿s core, however, is the sale for adoption of the Kaboor¿s three-year-old daughter, Pari, to the wealthy poet Nila Wahdati and her husband, Suleiman, by Pari¿s step-uncle Nabi. The split is particularly difficult for Abdullah, who took care of his sister after their mother¿s death. Once Suleiman has a stroke, Nila leaves him to Nabi¿s care and takes Pari to live in Paris. Much later, during the U.S. occupation, the dying Nabi makes Markos, a Greek plastic surgeon now renting the Wahdati house, promise to find Pari and give her a letter containing the truth. The beautiful writing, full of universal truths of loss and identity, makes each section a jewel, even if the bigger picture, which eventually expands to include Pari¿s life in France, sometimes feels disjointed. Still, Hosseini¿s eye for detail and emotional geography makes this a haunting read.
