A Thousand Splendid Suns

Acknowledgments
A few clarifications before I give thanks. The village of Gul Daman is a
fictional place-as far as I know. Those who are familiar with the city of
Herat will notice that I have taken minor liberties describing the
geography around it. Last, the title of this novel comes from a poem
composed by Saeb-e-Tabrizi, a seventeenth-century Persian poet. Those
who know the original Farsi poem will doubtless note that the English
translation of the line containing the title of this novel is not a literal one.
But it is the generally accepted translation, by Dr. Josephine Davis, and I
found it lovely. I am grateful to her.
I would like to thank Qayoum Sarwar, Hekmat Sadat, Elyse Hathaway,
Rosemary Stasek, Lawrence Quill, and Haleema Jazmin Quill for their
assistance and support.
Very special thanks to my father, Baba, for reading this manuscript, for
his feedback, and, as ever, for his love and support. And to my mother,
whose selfless, gentle spirit permeates this tale. You are my reason,
Mother jo. My thanks go to my in-laws for their generosity and many
kindnesses. To the rest of my wonderful family, I remain indebted and
grateful to each and every one of you.
I wish to thank my agent, Elaine Koster, for always, always believing,
Jody Hotchkiss (Onward!), David Grossman, Helen Heller, and the tireless
Chandler Crawford. I am grateful and indebted to every single person at
Riverhead Books. In particular, I want to thank Susan Petersen Kennedy
and Geoffrey Kloske for their faith in this story. My heartfelt thanks also
go to Marilyn Ducksworth, Mih-Ho Cha, Catharine Lynch, Craig D. Burke,