Mr. Hosseini’s third novel is in the tradition of the old-world storytelling that he has so skillfully employed in his two previous works. Only this time, he offers many layers and levels of a saga that focuses on sibling relationships.
We gain an intimate understanding of who his characters are and how they’ve defined themselves over the years through the choices they have made between familial responsibilities and independence, duty and freedom, loyalty to home and exile abroad. All this, played out against the backdrop of Afghanistan’s tumultuous history — from the pre-Soviet era through the years of the mujahedeen’s fight against the Soviet Union, the rise of the Taliban and the American invasion after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.
Old fashioned storytelling doesn’t go out of style, and Mr. Hosseini has proved it three times around.
