chicago tribune

Description

AND THE MOUNTAINS ECHOED is an unforgettable novel about finding a lost piece of yourself in someone else. Khaled Hosseini, the #1 New York Times--bestselling author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, has written a new novel about how we love, how we take care of one another, and how the choices we make resonate through generations. In this tale revolving around not just parents and children but brothers and sisters, cousins and caretakers, Hosseini explores the many ways in which families nurture, wound, betray, honor, and sacrifice for one another; and how often we are surprised by the actions of those closest to us, at the times that matter most. Following its characters and the ramifications of their lives and choices and loves around the globe—from Kabul to Paris to San Francisco to the Greek island of Tinos—the story expands gradually outward, becoming more emotionally complex and powerful with each turning page. "Khaled Hosseini's most assured and emotionally gripping story yet." -The New York Times "And the Mountains Echoed opens like a thunderclap. . . . [Hosseini] asks good, hard questions about the limits of love. . . . Love, Hosseini seems to say, is the great leveler, cutting through language, class, and identity. No one in this gripping novel is immune to its impact."—O, the Oprah Magazine "With his third and most ambitious novel yet, Hosseini makes it clear that he's not ready to rest on his Big Name. . . . While it hits all the Hosseini sweet spots—nostalgia, devastating details, triumph over the odds—And the Mountains Echoed covers more ground, both geographically and emotionally, than his previous works. It's not until Hosseini makes the novel small again, for the poignant conclusion, that you fully appreciate what he's accomplished."—Entertainment Weekly (A) "I'm not an easy touch when it comes to novels, but Hosseini's new book, And the Mountains Echoed, had tears dropping from my eyes by Page 45. . . . It's hard to do justice to a novel this rich in a short review. There are a dozen things I still want to say — about the rhyming pairs of characters, the echoing situations, the varied takes on honesty, loneliness, beauty and poverty, the transformation of emotions into physical ailments. Instead, I'll just add this: Send Hosseini up the bestseller list again."—Washington Post "Compulsively readable, in large part because [Hosseini] probes his characters' psyches in a nuanced and poetic manner . . . And the Mountains Echoed attains a greater level of complexity than its two predecessors . . . and signals the ongoing maturation of a gifted storyteller."—The Miami Herald "Hosseini . . . is back with his beautiful, often harrowing third novel, And the Mountains Echoed."—Chicago Tribune "My main goal in reading Khaled Hosseini's new book, And the Mountains Echoed, was to avoid crying. I failed within the first 20 pages. And by the last page, I was bawling. So, yes, much like Hosseini's earlier works, The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, his latest book is bathed in sadness and despair, with the requisite occasional ray of hope. Much like those other two books, And the Mountains Echoed is powerful and haunting. And much like the country it describes, it is not easy to forget. . . . You won't be able to put it down. To those readers who manage to get through it without shedding a tear, well, I tip my hat."—Associated Press "One of the biggest books of the summer."—USA Today "Haunting."—Houston Chronicle