The Covenant of Water

by Abraham Verghese

Rating: 5 (8 votes)

Tags: Set in Ethiopia Male author

The Covenant of Water

Description:
From the New York Times-bestselling author of Cutting for Stone comes a stunning and magisterial epic of love, faith, and medicine, set in Kerala, South India, and following three generations of a family seeking the answers to a strange secret The Covenant of Water is the long-awaited new novel by Abraham Verghese, the author of the major word-of-mouth bestseller Cutting for Stone, which has sold over 1.5 million copies in the United States alone and remained on the New York Times bestseller list for over two years. Spanning the years 1900 to 1977, The Covenant of Water is set in Kerala, on South India's Malabar Coast, and follows three generations of a family that suffers a peculiar affliction: in every generation, at least one person dies by drowning--and in Kerala, water is everywhere. At the turn of the century, a twelve-year-old girl from Kerala's long-existing Christian community, grieving the death of her father, is sent by boat to her wedding, where she will meet her forty-year-old husband for the first time. From this unforgettable new beginning, the young girl--and future matriarch, known as Big Ammachi--will witness unthinkable changes over the span of her extraordinary life, full of joy and triumph as well as hardship and loss, her faith and love the only constants. A shimmering evocation of a bygone India and of the passage of time itself, The Covenant of Water is a hymn to progress in medicine and to human understanding, and a humbling testament to the difficulties undergone by past generations for the sake of those alive today. It is one of the most masterful literary novels published in recent years.

Reviews:

Read Around The World Challenge user profile avatar for Kirsten
(8 months ago)
13 Jan, 2024
This book is incorrectly labelled as Ethiopia. It should be listed as India.
Read Around The World Challenge user profile avatar for Churchill
(8 months ago)
13 Jan, 2024
@dunmaglas The author's parents were from India, but he was born and raised in Ethiopia.
Read Around The World Challenge user profile avatar for Jean
(3 months ago)
25 Jun, 2024
I agree that this book should be labelled as India, since the entire story takes place in India.
Read Around The World Challenge user profile avatar for Churchill
(3 months ago)
25 Jun, 2024
Books for this challenge are listed based on the author's country of birth, not where the story takes place. The idea is to read books by authors from all countries. We are currently working on a feature to make it possible to mark books based on story setting for those who want to tackle the challenge that way.
Read Around The World Challenge user profile avatar for Janine
(2 months ago)
06 Jul, 2024
Loved it. A saga of a family, starting with a child bride, set in Kerela
Read Around The World Challenge user profile avatar for Janine
(2 months ago)
06 Jul, 2024
Loved it. A saga of a family, starting with a child bride, set in Kerela

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