A Thousand Splendid Suns Characters (Spriggs)

Abdul Sharif

A man hired by Rasheed to lie to Laila and tell her Tariq had died so that Rasheed could convince Laila to marry him.

Ahmad & Noor

Two brothers who go off to fight with the Mujahideen against the Soviets.

Aziza

Kind, mature, and thoughtful girl who is moved to live in an orphanage.

Fariba (Mammy)

Utterly destroyed by her sons' decision to go to war and then both of their deaths as a result of it, she is a distant mother — although once she was an exuberant presence in her community

Giti

A schoolmate and friend of _______, who is quiet and earnest before falling in love with an older boy and becoming more confident. Her death affected one of the main protagonists deeply and was the first friend to die.

Hakim (Babi)

Bookish and sensitive and does his best to give his daughter an education, stressing to her that women should have every opportunity that men have.

Jalil

A wealthy businessman who's deepest regret is abandoning his only legitimate child at his wives' wishes . Owns a cinema

Mariam

Quiet, thoughtful child at the start of the book, resents her mother's strict ways. Her mother's death contributes to her tolerance in an abusive marriage.

Nana

After having lost her teenage sweetheart (due to epilepsy) and becoming a mother out of wedlock, is a strict, bitter woman who eventually commits suicide.

Rasheed

Widowed shoemaker whose first wife and son die before his introduction to the main characters. Conservative and extremely abusive

Tariq

Writes Laila volumes of letters

Zalmai

The son of Laila and Rasheed

Zaman

The kindly orphanage director who looks after Aziza, and eventually becomes Laila's partner in the orphanage renovation.

Mullah Fazullah

Taught one of the main characters the Koran when she was a child. He was a kind and loving presence in her difficult childhood.

Laila

The second female protagonist, is the youngest child and only daughter of Hakim and Fariba.

Hamza

Son of Mullah F. Meets ________ when she goes to Herat at the very end of the novel, and who shows her where ________ once lived.

Sayeed

The owner of a hotel in Murree, Pakistan, who hires Tariq and eventually Laila and helps the two of them settle as exiles there.

Khadim

A child who lives near Laila and harasses her. The most heinous of his actions involved him squirting her with a squirt gun filled with urine.