And the Echo Flies Through the Mountains

It's 1952, a starry night in the desert, and a father tells his son and daughter an Afghan parable. They've settled in for the night in the mountains, en route to Kabul. Holding their breath, Abdullah and little Pari listen to the story of how a boy was kidnapped by a terrible deva, and the poor fellow faces the most terrible fate in the world. But life isn't painted in black and white—not even in fairy tales... The next morning, the father and children will continue their journey to Kabul, and that day will mark a fork in their paths. They will be separated, perhaps forever. The separation of brother and sister will give rise to several intertwining and unraveling stories. And at the center of this web is Pari, named not for the French capital, but because that's the name for people in Farsifa. Five generations, many countries and cities, will be drawn into a parable of life that unfolds through wars, births, deaths, loves, betrayals, and hopes. Khaled Hosseini's new novel, transparent, poignant, and multi-voiced, teaches that any decision made for another—for good or evil—has a price, and fate will inevitably present a bill for it. This is a novel about the power of cheap words and expensive deeds, the treachery of life's destiny, the inevitability of retribution, noisy cowardice and silent devotion.

Khaled Hosseini