Minor Characters
Qais
The favorite child of Baba Ayub in the story Saboor tells his children in the first chapter of the novel.
Baitullah
A man who lives in the same village as Saboor, Masooma, and Parwana.
Zahib
An irritable and lazy gardener who works for Mr. Suleiman Wahdati for many years.
Mr. Bashiri
An employee of Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the 1970s, the father of Idris, and the uncle of Timur.
Nahil
The wife of Dr. Idris Bashiri, a young woman planning on attending law school.
Farooq
An Afghan lawyer hired by Timur and Idris Bashiri to manage the sale of their property in the city of Kabul.
Zabi
One of Dr. Idris Bashiri’s two children.
Lemar
One of Dr. Idris Bashiri’s two children.
Sultana
The wife of Abdullah and the mother of Pari II, Sultana appears briefly in the final chapter of And the Mountains Echoed before dying of cancer.
Joan Schaeffer
The chief doctor at Dr. Idris Bashiri’s hospital.
Julien
A mature, intelligent Frenchman, Julien works first as a professor at the Sorbonne, and later as an employee of the International Monetary Fund. He appears in And the Mountains Echoed in Chapter Six, where he’s the lover of both Nila Wahdati and (later) Pari Wahdati.
Christian
A college friend of Julien.
Aurelie
A college friend of Julien.
Dr. Delaunay
The doctor who calls Pari after Nila Wahdati has an “accident.”
King Amanullah
The ruler of Afghanistan in the years following World War II, King Amanullah is a young, “Westernized” politician, who tries and fails to introduce secularism and democracy to his country, and is ultimately banished for his efforts.
Collette
A friend of Pari Wahdati, who ultimately marries Didier and runs a profitable travel company.
Zahia
A young nursing student, with whom Pari Wahdati lives briefly, following the end of her romance with Julien.
Eric Lacombe
The husband of Pari Wahdati (after her relationship with Julien).
Isabelle
The eldest daughter of Pari Wahdati and Eric Lacombe, who ultimately marries Albert and works as a musician.
Alain
The middle child of Pari Wahdati and Eric Lacombe, who ultimately marries Ana and has four children.
Didier
A psychiatrist who marries Collette.
Malalai
A teacher at a school in New Shadbagh.
Kabir
One of The Commander’s bodyguards.
Andrea Gianakos
One of several husbands of Madaline.
Manaar
A young Indian boy whom Dr. Markos Varvaris meets while he’s in the hospital with hepatitis. Manaar plays a crucial role in convincing Markos to become a doctor, as Markos develops a close bond with Manaar, but can’t save his life.
Dorian
Madaline’s first husband.
Apollo
The dog that attacked Thalia and gave her a lifelong facial injury.
Hector Juarez
A soldier and friend of Pari II, who becomes a paraplegic after fighting in Afghanistan.
Iqbal
The half-brother of Abdullah, who lives as a refugee in Afghanistan and Pakistan. His son is Gholam, and his land is stolen by the The Commander.
Albert
The husband of Isabelle.
Gianna
A beautiful woman who sleeps with Dr. Markos Varvaris, and later burns his photograph of Thalia because she thinks Thalia is his girlfriend.
Omar
The child of Saboor and Parwana, who dies, possibly because of Saboor’s carelessness.
Shuja
Saboor, Pari, and Abdullah’s beloved dog.
Thierry
The youngest child of Pari Wahdati and Eric Lacombe. He has a poor relationship with his parents and lives in Chad, where he works with Darfur refugees.
The div
In Saboor’s story, the div is a magical creature—not entirely good or evil—who forces Baba Ayub to make a difficult choice: either sacrifice a member of his family, or watch as the div kills all of them. (See Symbols for more on the div.)
Andreas
Another of Madaline’s husbands.