A Thousand Splendid Suns is the second work of Khaled Hosseini, who is most famous for the book The Kite-Runner. Although less well-known, A Thousand Splendid Suns is considered a even better work by many critics. It focuses on the life of two Afghanistan women, Mariam and Laila. I'd like to start the review with a beautiful quote from the book:

“One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs. Nor the thousand splendid suns that hid behind her walls.”
 
The quote first appeared as a poem that encouraged Laila, strengthening her will of returning to Afghanistan to do something for her country.
 
At first glance, the quote is beautiful yet bewildering. It depicts an image of a woman sitting on a chair, with a roof over her head and walls around her. At the same time, the sun & the moon glowed upon the roof & behind her walls. The sentence of poetry has a strong sense of image, though it’s hard to see the purpose of placing the quote here.
 
My first thought was that the roofs & the walls are parts of a house and that the light from moons and suns found it difficult to shine through the concrete barriers. Relating to the situation of Afghanistan women (especially after the Taliban took control) and the plot (Laila can’t visit her daughter with her husband’s company), it might link to how Afghanistane women are trapped in their homes due to social restrictions. It might also relate to the detail of Rasheed covering windows after Laila and Mariam failed to escape. He blocked the windows and the door of the house, depriving all sunlight and hopes.
 
Another “clue” that occurred to me is how both stars can be considered as a symbol of “eternity” and “everlasting”. Also, the key idea of the quote might not be how the light is blocked, but how the roofs and walls are unable to block the strong glow of “a thousand splendid suns”. With these premises, we can summarize several keywords: strong light, eternity, women. Elements that connect all three concepts are possibly a power inside a woman’s soul. A possible guess is motherhood, which is an important concept in the book (especially for Mariam).
 
After we work out the light of suns and moons might symbolize motherhood, we can reasonably conclude that the “walls” & “roofs” are not merely parts of a house, but all the barriers and restrictions that are imposed on women, intentionally or unintentionally blocking or even destroying motherhood. From the burqa to the unfair laws, from the lack of education to unfair medical resource distributions, from the thought of “sons are better than daughters” to domestic violence that is considered to be a symbol of luck and blessing. All of these are preventing a mother from loving & protecting her own kids (referring to the plot, how Mariam never had her own children / terrible conditions in women’s hospital / Laila was prevented from seeing her daughter). However, just like how the man-made stone and concrete walls can never block the eternal light of moons and suns, the social barriers never shut down motherhood. Laila and Mariam always find ways to protect their children. Because motherhood is an animal instinct, an urge that exists since humans are still uncivilized beasts.  Laws or rules can never erase animal instincts no matter how hard they tried. 
 
Yet motherhood in women is not the only subject of the book. Motherhood, or the determination to go out of one’s ways just to protect something, can also exist between women and even men. The broader definition of motherhood fits into the relationship of the two main heroines, Mariam and Laila. They love each other dearly, willing to sacrifice anything or the well-being of each other. In my opinion, Mariam is, to some extent, Laila's mother as well. Laila's birth mother is constantly thinking about her two older sons who died on the battlefield; she neglected Laila. While Mariam loves Laila as a mother. Laila was born approximately the same time as Mariam's first miscarriage. Perhaps it was settled at that time, that although Mariam lost her first child, she will have Laila and Laila's children, and they will become one family together, connected with bravery, trust, and love. 

The thousand splendid suns do not only stand for motherhood, they stand for love. The love between families, love between friends, and love for one’s country. The author mentioned that he found the Afghanistan women to be the greatest representation of the country and its people. They are the ones that are unwilling to give up and determined to help their nation.
 
Finally, I’d like to refer to a detail that I really love. When Mariam held up the spade to hit Rasheed for saving Laila, she didn’t just attack him from the back, instead, she called his name to let Rasheed look at her. “She wanted Rasheed to see this and know what had happened.”
 
This small detail transformed Mariam from a terrified woman trying to save her life into a hero. She wanted her enemy——Rasheed——to see that it is his wife, whom he always view as an inferior creature, that brought him to his doom. All of a sudden, she is no longer an individual desperate for life, but a leader, a precursor, with a noble personality. Her swing of the spade is like the final attack that ended the chaotic war and brought back the light that has been deprived of her life, and all other Afghanistan women’s life. While herself became part of the light emitted from a thousand splendid suns.
 
To sum up, the poetic sentence can actually be interpreted as a series of motion pictures. At first, a woman, maybe Mariam,  is sitting on a chair, head dropped low, chin touching her chest. She is sitting in a room. There are no windows. No light. Nothing. Except for pure darkness. A stream of golden sunlight shone on the wall. The light became stronger. The woman’s head lifted, squinting at the light source that is getting brighter and brighter. Then she stood up. The golden light covered her body and it became impossible for one to tell if she was glowing as well. All of a sudden, the light reached its brightest state and in a blinding glorious light, the wall crumbled into dust. The woman just stood there, looking around. The world outside the house wasn’t any better. Snakes, worms, tigers. And other men, women, and children. Peering at her through tiny glass windows. The woman started walking. She did not stop. She did not look sideways. She just walked. Towards the light. Finally, she walked into the light and became a part of the thousand splendid suns.