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Mariam

This character is born out of wedlock and is raised in a kolba or hut in the hills above Herat, where her father lives with his legitimate wives and children. She is forced into an arranged marriage at the age of fifteen after her mother commits suicide.

Laila

This character is born in 1978. Following the death of her parents and the disappearance of her lover, she weds an ethnic Pashtun and shoemaker and becomes his second wife.

Rasheed

This character in the novel is an ethnic Pashtun and a shoemaker. He weds his first wife when she is fifteen years old to his forty-five, and his second wife when he is in his sixties. He is portrayed as abusive and patriarchal.

Tariq

This character is the one-legged son of a carpenter. He loses touch with his lover for many years due to the fighting in the region, but...

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This section contains 311 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample