A Thousand Splendid Suns

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He ate, smoked, went to bed, sometimes came back in the middle of thenight for a brief and, of late, quite rough session of coupling. He wasmore apt to sulk these days, to fault her cooking, to complain aboutclutter around the yard or point out even minor uncleanliness in thehouse. Occasionally, he took her around town on Fridays, like he used to,but on the sidewalks he walked quickly and always a few steps ahead ofher, without speaking, unmindful of Mariam who almost had to run tokeep up with him. He wasn't so ready with a laugh on these outingsanymore. He didn't buy her sweets or gifts, didn't stop and name placesto her as he used to. Her questions seemed to irritate him.One night, they were sitting in the living room listening to the radio.Winter was passing. The stiff winds that plastered snow onto the face andmade the eyes water had calmed. Silvery fluffs of snow were melting offthe branches of tall elms and would be replaced in a few weeks withstubby, pale green buds. Rasheed was shaking his foot absently to thetabla beat of a Hamahang song, his eyes crinkled against cigarettesmoke."Are you angry with me?" Mariam asked.Rasheed said nothing. The song ended and the news came on. Awoman's voice reported that President Daoud Khan had sent yet anothergroup of Soviet consultants back to Moscow, to the expected displeasureof the Kremlin."I worry that you are angry with me."Rasheed sighed
"Are you?"His eyes shifted to her. "Why would I be angry?""I don't know, but ever since the baby-""Is that the kind of man you take me for, after everything I've done foryou?""No. Of course not.""Then stop pestering me!""I'm sorry. Bebakhsh, Rasheed. I'm sorry."He crushed out his cigarette and lit another. He turned up the volumeon the radio."I've been thinking, though," Mariam said, raising her voice so as to beheard over the music.Rasheed sighed again, more irritably this time, turned down the volumeonce more. He rubbed his forehead wearily. "What now?""I've been thinking, that maybe we should have a proper burial For thebaby, I mean. Just us, a few prayers,nothing more."Mariam had been thinking about it for a while. She didn't want to forgetthis baby. It didn't seem right, not to mark this loss in some way thatwas permanent."What for? It's idiotic."
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Khour Rivekhead Booksa member of Pe
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PART ONE1.Mariam was five years old
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there once, to the tree. You were l
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Jalil didn't have the dil either, N
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center, in the shade of the willows
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uneventful forty-year reign. She sa
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"Well, one of," he said and smiled.
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* * *In the mornings, they awoke to
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He said they comforted him, eased h
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Mariam did."Only one skill And it's
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would squeal.Suspended in the air,
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He was the one who told her in the
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gone, he would surely take her with
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Mariam remembered him telling her t
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to the north of the city, Char-suq
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She waited until her legs were stif
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from hookahs.The old man turned ont
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Mariam only looked at him."I'll tak
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the cold leather of the backseat.*
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It was when Mullah Faizullah's slig
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chest with a flower vase on it. The
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Mariam shrugged. She didn't say to
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Page 49 and 50: 1 hey sat across from her, Jalil an
Page 51 and 52: Mariam fixed her eyes on Jalil, her
Page 53 and 54: "He's so old and weak," Khadija eve
Page 55 and 56: pair of matching sandals.She was ta
Page 57 and 58: "Mariam," Jalil whispered."Yes," sh
Page 59 and 60: Mariam could not bring herself to a
Page 61 and 62: "We're in Deh-Mazang," he said. The
Page 63 and 64: "What's this crying about?" Rasheed
Page 65 and 66: "Yes.""You can thank me then.""Than
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Page 71 and 72: face. Her lips were much fuller tha
Page 73 and 74: again and running, bolting past the
Page 75 and 76: Mariam blinked."It's a joke. Of cou
Page 77 and 78: air smoky. The walls smelled faintl
Page 79 and 80: and kissed on the cheek, Mariam sto
Page 81 and 82: * * *That night, Rasheed visited he
Page 83 and 84: Except for a handful of days, Rashe
Page 85 and 86: out "Eidmubarak" to her as they pas
Page 87 and 88: On every page were women, beautiful
Page 89 and 90: unsettling about the way Rasheed se
Page 91 and 92: hammering- She wrapped a shawl arou
Page 93 and 94: Mariam stroked the softness of her
Page 95 and 96: "What kind of answer is that?" he s
Page 97: Other days, Mariam was besieged wit
Page 101 and 102: On April 17,1978, the year Mariam t
Page 103 and 104: apologies and sometimes not.In the
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Page 107 and 108: yellow, an exhausted Fariba had pro
Page 109 and 110: Through the mouthful of grit and pe
Page 111 and 112: parents were fighting. Again. Laila
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Page 115 and 116: pulled tightly back and tied in a b
Page 117 and 118: with her books pressed to her chest
Page 119 and 120: "Beans, girls," Hasina said. "You r
Page 121 and 122: understand it-couldn't quite pictur
Page 123 and 124: the conversation, as the women talk
Page 125 and 126: * * *Mammy had pulled the yellowish
Page 127 and 128: "The usual.""Did you eat?""I did.""
Page 129 and 130: "Of course you do. Shut the curtain
Page 131 and 132: "What did you do 1 ?" she exclaimed
Page 133 and 134: thanks to God.""Heart attack. His s
Page 135 and 136: it's nonsense-and very dangerous no
Page 137 and 138: "Your masculine smarts? Really? Tel
Page 139 and 140: himself more upright, taking on a s
Page 141 and 142: reasons people out there took up ar
Page 143 and 144: duties."It's under control. You go
Page 145 and 146: But the feeling didn't last. It was
Page 147 and 148: would obliterate her in death. Mamm
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to be there when it happens, when A
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* * *Half an hour later, the driver
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ditches, on the banks of which tiny
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physically. He planted a brisk kiss
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* * *Later, after they'd eaten a lu
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22.January 1989One cold, overcast d
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They "went to Cinema Park later tha
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Three years passed.In that time, Ta
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thoughtful face, eyebrow cocked and
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"I see you want to," Laila said, ir
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that some, if not most, of the neig
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"Oh, he has the most handsome smile
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off his newly muscular arms-complim
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repertoire of poses: back to the wa
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precisely at the midpoint between m
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And when the rockets began to rain
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"I don't like it," she said. "Guns
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In June of that yeah, 1992, there w
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One daY that same month of June, Gi
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"And my mother is not a young woman
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"Let me marry you, Laila. Today. We
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Laila couldn't decide which he had
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stood by the front gates, leaning a
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wedding band-and most of her old cl
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She thought suddenly of her dream.
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Somewhere, an accordion playing.Mer
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she had to retch."How long is she s
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at the girl, at her blond curls, he
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names added to theshaheed list. Nor
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an image of Tariq's parents present
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bleeping, syringes all over the gro
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the guns the CIA handed him in the
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it was as thick and coarse as ever.
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But this is for the best. You'll se
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Not with this daily retching.This n
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31.MadamIn the daytime, the girl wa
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"No matter. The point is, I am your
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could hear the creaking of its hing
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"You can imagine the rest. The boy
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he's siding with Massoud. And Hekma
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imagined. He had her sit behind his
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Jbarly one morning the next spring,
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"Not yet, Rasheed. No. Let go. Come
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"I was listening to the radio the o
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anything.In the end, Mariam knew th
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Mariam pulled her finger free. The
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"Which was it?""He was like both.""
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Laila sat in a comer and draped her
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Mariam gave a half smile. "It's a g
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* * *Early the following yeah, in J
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loaded gun near Aziza.One day that
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azan rang out, and then the morning
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Mariam shifted Aziza in her arms. "
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Laila gave him their names, and he
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"You're not going to get on this bu
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died. Sometimes they're telling the
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to go-"Laila didn't see the punch c
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"Soon." Laila kissed her daughter,
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country that will hold me accountab
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They "went our that day, the four o
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Shar-e-Nau, in Karteh-Parwan, in Wa
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Ever cared to visit the real Afghan
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punishment. Then, on Fridays, he we
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to guide the spoke, if indeed she c
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Before the registration window was
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aluminum table. The top shelf had a
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you'll find yourself in a bidding w
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behind their parched lands, selling
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with Laila. He had bought him a new
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were inseparable now. Of late, with
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sound like dropping a rice bag to t
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their livestock. When they found ne
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few toys Laila had fought Rasheed t
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of her children. She had saved the
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"What's taking him so long?" Mariam
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lived in Shar-e-Nau and owned the c
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the ragged net lying limply in the
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On the way to Karteh-Seh, Zalmai bo
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you won't go hungry. They have rice
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Next to Laila, Aziza snorted.Zaman
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bless you, brother."***But "when th
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warn you.""I'm coming with you," Ma
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"They're fractures along the earth'
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transpiration.More than once, Laila
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bewildered, almost harmless. Like s
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perfectly still and looked at Tariq
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LailaIariq said that one of the men
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"I'm so sorry.""Well. Yes. Me too.
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"I don't recognize Kabul.""Neither
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long to see the doctor, Tariq said.
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"He was only visiting," Mariam said
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guilty to feel that about Zalmai, w
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new leg. Tariq said he'd wept at th
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"I'll count the minutes."Almost ten
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"And then…Idon't know. I have to
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touched her fingers to her temple,
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Mariam clawed at him. She beat at h
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LailaLaila was aware of the face ov
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say anything for a long time.Laila'
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"Somewhere with trees," she said. "
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"I don't know, my love."When was he
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a while, wait for things to calm do
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awaited planting and chickens that
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glass. There were no curtains eithe
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It was just as well, she said, her
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"Well, then." He threw up his hands
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walls. She watched the winds stir m
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A lump closed off her throat. In a
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her eyes, it was not regret any lon
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It was Sayeecl who summoned a frien
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tags along, a mop in one hand, the
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delivered again.At some point, Lail
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"Did you hear?" he says, panting a
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In less than two hours, both towers
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But it rankles Laila, what Tariq is
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precisely the sort of life she used
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"I am happy," Laila says. "Of cours
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As she leans back and watches Sayee
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is a painting of the poet Khaja Abd
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she is alive and sitting in this ta
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the wall They sit by the open windo
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mosquitoes hovering in front of her
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summon Mariam behind the lids of he
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"Let's go back," he says. Then, "I
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* * *Tariq and the children come ba
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deserved you. Now all I can do is a
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Zalmai's new goat. Laila watched th
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Laila yanks her children back onto
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calling after her, Aziza screaming
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blankets that keep the children war
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AcknowledgmentsA few clarifications
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A Thousand Splendid Suns

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