I’ve been meaning to read The Kite Runner for quite some time and having managed to skip channels whenever the film was on TV I successfully dodged spoilers. I must say it took me a while to get into the plot as I was so distracted by the setting of the novel and the beautiful descriptions of pre-occupied Kabul. In my lifetime, Kabul has only every been described on the news as a place of war-torn devastation and loss. It was surprising and equally upsetting to read of the peaceful golden days of Kabul with orchards, and hilltops for children to run freely, flying kites and basking in childhood innocence. How that now jars with the present day image of the city is shocking.

I’m not going to lay out the plot for you as I think you should read it. Both tragic and brutal, author Khaled Hosseini demands your attention and trusts your intelligence. At times you are enveloped in childhood nostalgia and then thrust hurtling forward into a city in the grips of the Taliban. The writing is full of tension, remorse and justice. I found myself learning a lot from it, not just historically but also from a human angle, how families lives have been changed and bloodlines altered as the landscape that was once home to the pomegranate tree has become our front-page news.