The Kite Runner

Afghanistan, 1975: 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 Afghanistan under Taliban rule to find the one thing that his new world cannot grant him: redemption.

Review

A gripping read and a haunting story of love, loss and betrayal. Guaranteed to move even the hardest heart ― Independent

Shattering . devastating and inspiring ― Observer

Hosseini is a truly gifted teller of tales . he's not afraid to pull every string in your heart to make it sing ― The Times

Rings true with tenderness and truth ― Daily Mail

A devastating, masterful and painfully honest story of a life crippled by an act of childhood and cowardice and cruelty . It speaks the harrowing truth about the power of evil, personal and political, and intoxicates, like a high-flying kite, with the power of hope ― Daily Telegraph

Stunning and heartbreaking in its quiet intensity ― Guardian

This is one of those unforgettable stories that stay with you for years. All the great themes of literature and of life are the fabric of this extraordinary novel: love, honour, guilt, fear, redemption . It is so powerful that for a long time after, everything I read seemed bland ― Isabel Allende

The novel that made Afghanistan the talking-point of every book group ― Guardian, 50 Books that Defined the Decade

About the Author

Khaled Hosseini is one of the most widely read and beloved authors. His novels The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns and And the Mountains Echoed have sold over 55 million copies all over the world. Hosseini is a Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the founder of The Khaled Hosseini Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation which provides humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan. He was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, and lives in northern California