Hossain is Parvana’s deceased older brother who died at age 14 when he stepped on a land mine. Parvana was still a toddler at the time, so she has no memory of him. He and Nooria were close, though, and Nooria shares that Hossain adored baby Parvana. In the novel’s present, Mother and Father are still grieving his death and so still hold onto his belongings, almost a decade after his death. Mother has a hard time when Parvana has to wear Hossain’s old shalwar kameez to pass as a boy.