Her beauty was the talk of the valley.It skipped two generations of women in our family, but it sure didn't bypass you, Laila.

In 2004, I took a one year sabbatical to finish my second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns. At the end of that year, I was not done with my book, and had to in effect resign from work. I did. I never went back.

I opened my mouth, almost said something. Almost. The rest of my life might have turned out differently if I had. But I didn’t.

Attention shifted to him like sunflowers turning to the sun.

There is a way to be good again.

I now know that some people feel unhappiness the way others love: privately, intensely, and without recourse.

She said, 'I'm so afraid.' And I said, 'why?,' and she said, 'Because I'm so profoundly happy, Dr. Rasul. Happiness like this is frightening.' I asked her why and she said, 'They only let you be this happy if they're preparing to take something from you.