And the Mountains Echoed

Khaled Hosseini’s third novel is told via a series of interlinking stories—beginning in an Afghanistan village in 1952 when an impoverished man named Saboor is faced with the prospect of giving up one of his children in order to survive. From this crucial moment, the narrative expands, as Saboor’s decision impacts his descendants and acquaintances for generations to come. Author Khaled Hosseini and narrators Navid Negahban and Shohreh Aghdashloo alternate reading duties. Of the three, the author speaks with the clearest elocution, though his reading, while precise, is also stiff at times—and this may take listeners out of the story. Negahban and Aghdashloo, who deliver the bulk of the narrative, are more emotive and hand in performances that are more likely to capture and keep listener attention. A Riverhead hardcover. (May)