Truly, one of the best books I have ever read!!!  Highly recommend to everyone...Thank you Alysia Robledo for the recommendation!

A Thousand Splendid Suns is the story of Mariam and Laila and the setting is in Afghanistan during the last forty or so years.  Mariam, an illegitimate child (a fate almost worse than death in Afghanistan), was married off to a man from Kabul when she was 15. Her husband was older, abusive, cruel, and forced her to act and dress in very strict attire and behavior.  Laila was born just before the Russian invasion and had dreams of a life of education and travel. A bomb kills most of her family and she recovers from her wounds in Mariam's house. And thus begins an incredible life-long friendship, respect,  and love for each other and the children.  An absolute MUST read, it has everything...treachery, murder, kindness, love, romance, war, friendship, it's heartbreaking, history, Taliban, and more. 

The title of the book is from a 17th Century poem by Saib-e-Tabrizi in praise of Kabul:

    "One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs,

    or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls