I give novels as gifts, and there is nothing I like to receive more as a gift.

I brought Hassan’s son from Afghanistan to America, lifting him from the certainty of turmoil and dropping him in a turmoil of uncertainty

Though there had been moments of beauty in it, Mariam knew that life for most part has been unkind to her. But as she walked the final twenty paces, she could not help but wish for more of it.

Laila has moved on. Because in the end she knows that’s all she can do. That and hope.

I read actual physical books and have thus far avoided the electronic lure.

There isn't, even now, a great tradition of novel-writing in Afghanistan. Most of the literature is in the form of poetry.

Human behavior is messy and unpredictable and unconcerned with convenient symmetries.