And the Mountains Echoed

I give thanks. The village of Shadbagh is fictional, though it is possible that one by that name exists somewhere in Afghanistan. If so, I have never been to it. Abdullah and Pari’s nursery rhyme, specifically the reference to a “sad little fairy,” was inspired by a poem by the late, great Persian poet Forough Farrokhzad. Finally, the title of this book was inspired in part by William Blake’s lovely poem, “Nurse’s Song.”
    I would like to extend my thanks to Bob Barnett and Deneen Howell for being such wonderful guides and advocates for this book. Thank you Helen Heller, David Grossman, Jody Hotchkiss. Thanks to Chandler Crawford, for her enthusiasm, patience, and advice. Many thanks to a host of friends at Riverhead Books: Jynne Martin, Kate Stark, Sarah Stein, Leslie Schwartz, Craig D. Burke, Helen Yentus, and many more I have left unnamed but to whom I am deeply grateful for helping bring this book to readers.
    I thank my wonderful copy editor, Tony Davis, who ventures way beyond the call of duty.
    Very special gratitude goes out to my editor, the hugely talented Sarah McGrath, for her insight and vision, her gentle guidance, and for helping me shape this book in more ways than I can recall. I’ve never enjoyed the editing process more, Sarah.
    Lastly, I thank Susan Petersen Kennedy and Geoffrey Kloske, for their trust and unwavering faith in me and my writing.
    Thank you and
Tashakor
to all my friends and all the people in my family for always being in my corner, and for patiently, gamely, and kindly putting up with me. As ever, I thank my beautiful wife, Roya, not only for reading and editing many incarnations of this book but also for running our day-to-day life, without a whisper of protest, so I could write. Without you, Roya, this book would have died somewhere in the first paragraph of page one. I love you.

Also by Khaled Hosseini
    The Kite Runner

    Read by over 21 million people worldwide
    1970s Afghanistan: Twelve-year-old Amir is desperate to win the local kite-fighting tournament and his loyal friend Hassan promises to help him. But neither of the boys can foresee what will happen to Hassan that afternoon, an event that is to shatter their lives. After the Russians invade and the family is forced to flee to America, Amir realises that one day he must return to an Afghanistan under Taliban rule to find the one thing that his new world cannot grant him: redemption.
    â€˜Unforgettable … extraordinary … powerful’ Isabel Allende
    â€˜A devastating, masterful and painfully honest story’
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    â€˜A novel of unusual generosity, honesty and compassion’
Independent
    If you have a device with internet capabilities, please click for more information.
    Â 
    A Thousand Splendid Suns

    Mariam is only fifteen when she is sent to Kabul to marry Rasheed. Nearly two decades later, a friendship grows between Mariam and a local teenager, Laila, as strong as the ties between mother and daughter. When the Taliban take over, life becomes a desperate struggle against starvation, brutality and fear. Yet love can move a person to act in unexpected ways, and lead them to overcome the most daunting obstacles with a startling heroism.
    â€˜In case you’re wondering whether
A Thousand Splendid Suns
is as good as
The Kite Runner
, here’s the answer: No. It’s better’
Washington Post
    If you have a device with internet capabilities, please click for more information .
    Â 
    If you loved
The Kite Runner
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    The Kite Runner Graphic Novel

    â€˜Powerful … full of detail, meaning and significance.
As a visual way in to the novel this is a success’ Paul Gravett
    If you have a device with internet capabilities, please click for more information.
    For more information about Khaled Hosseini, to download reading guides,
sign up for exclusive offers and find out more about signed, special editions, please visit:
www.bloomsbury.com/khaledhosseini

Bloomsbury Publishing, London, New Delhi, New York and Sydney
    Copyright © 2013 by Khaled Hosseini and Roya Hosseini, as Trustees
of The Khaled and Roya Hosseini Family Charitable Remainder
Unitrust No. 2 dated February 29, 2012. All rights reserved.
    Epigraph copyright Coleman Barks
    First published in Great Britain 2013
    This electronic edition published in 2013 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
    Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
50 Bedford Square
London
WC1B 3DP
    The moral right of