June 2023 - AudioFile
Abraham Verghese is a rarity among authors--a gifted writer who is also a dramatic narrator. Once you listen to his nuanced, emotionally charged performance, you'll be convinced that no one else could have better captured the dialects, tones, and cadences of his mostly Indian characters. He also portrays a Scot and an American, among others, and adroitly changes his pitch for male or female characters. The novel is a monumental work of fiction that benefits from the author's fine ear, medical knowledge, and remarkable ability to make complex medical procedures and diagnoses central to this multigenerational story, set in the watery environs of India's southern coast. A long and immersive listen, this audiobook is a tour de force. A.D.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
★ 03/27/2023
Verghese’s breathtaking latest (after Cutting for Stone) follows several generations of a South Indian family as they search for the roots of a curse. The watery setting of Travancore (later Kerala) is described in dreamlike terms, with “rivulets and canals, a latticework of lakes and lagoons, a maze of backwaters and bottle-green lotus ponds.” There, a member of the Parambil family has drowned in each of the last three generations. The story begins in 1900 when a 12-year-old girl, who becomes known as Big Ammachi, marries a 40-year-old widower with a two-year-old son, JoJo. Big Ammachi sees the curse firsthand after discovering JoJo drowned at 10 in an irrigation ditch. At 16, she gives birth to Baby Mol, a daughter gifted with prophecy, and then to a son, Philipose, who becomes a newspaper columnist and marries Elsie, a beautiful and talented artist. They live in Big Ammachi’s loving home with their son, Ninan, until an accident sends the couple reeling. Philipose becomes an opium addict and Elsie returns to her family, but they reunite briefly and have a daughter, Mariamma, until another tragedy leaves newborn Mariamma motherless. A parallel narrative involves Scottish surgeon Digby Kilgour, who runs a leprosarium, and by the end, Verghese perfectly connects the wandering threads. Along the way, Mariamma becomes a neurosurgeon and seeks the cause of the drownings, and the author handily depicts Mariamma’s intricate brain surgeries and Kilgour’s skin graft treatments, along with political turmoil when the Maoist Naxalite movement hits close to home. Verghese outdoes himself with this grand and stunning tribute to 20th-century India. Agent: Mary Evans, Mary Evans Inc. (May)
From the Publisher
Praise for The Covenant of Water:
Named a Most Anticipated Book by the Washington Post, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Oprah Daily, Publishers Weekly (Top 10), Literary Hub, and BookPage
“Breathtaking . . . The book beautifully explores the lessons we learn from our ancestors in an always changing world.”—Real Simple
“Both a compassionate family saga and an account of medicine, politics, art, women’s rights, and the legacy of British colonialism in India . . . Vast in scope and also surprisingly intimate, Verghese’s novel covers most of the 20th century in India, but is ultimately the story of a family—blood and chosen—caring for each other through all of life’s challenges and changes.”—Shelf Awareness
“Three generations of a South Indian family are marked by passions and peccadillos, conditions and ambitions, interventions both medical and divine . . . As in the bestselling and equally weighty Cutting for Stone, the fiction debut by Verghese (who’s also a physician), the medical procedures and advances play a central role—scenes of hand surgery and brain surgery are narrated with the same enthusiastic detail as scenes of lovemaking. A few times along this very long journey one may briefly wonder, Is all this really necessary? What a joy to say it is, to experience the exquisite, uniquely literary delight of all the pieces falling into place in a way one really did not see coming . . . By God, he’s done it again.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“A literary landmark, a monumental treatment of family and country, as sprawling in scope as Edna Ferber’s Giant . . . Writing with compassion and insight, Verghese creates distinct characters in Dickensian profusion, and his language is striking; even graphic descriptions of medical procedures are beautifully wrought. Throughout, there are joy, courage, and devotion, as well as tragedy; always there is water, the covenant that links all.”—Library Journal (starred review)
“Instantly and utterly absorbing is the so-worth-the-wait new novel by the author of Cutting for Stone . . . Verghese—who gifts the matriarch his mother’s name and even some of her stories—illuminates colonial history, challenges castes and classism, and exposes injustices, all while spectacularly spinning what will undoubtedly be one of the most lauded, awarded, best-selling novels of the year.”—Terry Hong, Booklist (starred review)
“Breathtaking . . . By the end, Verghese perfectly connects the wandering threads . . . Verghese outdoes himself with this grand and stunning tribute to 20th-century India.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“A masterpiece. Put it on your bookcase next to A Passage to India by E.M. Forster or anything by the brave and brilliant Salman Rushdie. Indeed, put it next to any great novel of your choice. Sprawling, passionate, tragic and comedic at turns . . . Verghese, probably the best doctor-writer since Anton Chekhov, upends all of our expectations . . . You won’t want it to end.”—BookPage (starred review)
“Reading The Covenant of Water I felt as if I’d been plunged into an atmosphere thicker than air, or as if I was swimming in a sea of stories, each more intense and unforgettable than the last.”—Sandra Cisneros, author of Woman Without Shame
“From the very first page of Abraham Verghese’s The Covenant of Water, I was overtaken with joy. Truly, I caught my breath, absorbing such beauty. What a sure faith this novel is—what an agreement with language. What a glorious story of land and family. What a brilliant path written across generations.”—Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, author The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois
“The Covenant of Water is a brilliant novel, one I feel lucky to experience. It is enthralling; its conjured worlds vigorous and astonishing; its characters so real they call me back to their lives. I wanted to read this book for whole days and nights, and do little else.”—Megha Majumdar, author of A Burning
“This majestic, sweeping story of family secrets—their curse, their legacy, and their cure—is intimate and profound. Abraham Verghese takes us on a journey across nearly a century and more than one continent, all the while dazzling with his rich, elegant prose. Verghese is a literary legend at the height of his extraordinary powers.”—Dani Shapiro, author of Signal Fires
“A novel of utter beauty, The Covenant of Water is worthy of all praise in its depiction of medical ingenuity and family love; it is epic and eye-opening, the sort of story that only a singular mind like Abraham Verghese’s could have woven.”—Imbolo Mbue, author of How Beautiful We Were
Praise for Cutting for Stone:
“A winner . . . Filled with mystical scenes and deeply felt characters . . . Verghese is something of a magician as a novelist.”—USA Today
“Beautiful . . . Amazing.”—New Yorker
“Verghese creates this story so lovingly that it is actually possible to live within it for the brief time one spends with this book. You may never leave the chair.”—Los Angeles Times
“Tremendous . . . Vivid and thrilling . . . I feel lucky to have gotten to read it.”—Atul Gawande
“Absorbing, exhilarating.”—Seattle Times
“Engrossing . . . Endearing . . . A passionate, vivid, and informative novel.” —Boston Globe
“The novel is full of compassion and wise vision . . . I feel I changed forever after reading this book.”—Sandra Cisneros, San Antonio Express-News
“Stupendous . . . An epic medical romance, surgery meets history. Beautiful and deeply affecting.”—Financial Times
“Vivid . . . Cutting for Stone shines.”—Washington Post Book World
“A masterpiece . . . Verghese expertly weaves the threads of numerous story lines into one cohesive opus.”—San Francisco Chronicle
“Vastly entertaining and enlightening.”—Tracy Kidder
“Wildly imaginative . . . A lovely ode to the medical profession.”—Entertainment Weekly
“Compelling . . . Readers will put this novel down at book’s end knowing that it will stick with them for a long time to come.”—St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Fantastic . . . Written with a lyrical flair, told through a compassionate first-person point of view, and rich with medical insight and information.”—Houston Chronicle
Library Journal - Audio
★ 06/10/2024
Three generations of an Indian family living in Kerala carry the heavy burden of an unknowable secret—one person in each generation dies by drowning, even in the shallowest of water. Spanning the years 1900 to 1977, the story follows family members through their lives, seamlessly interweaving details about the myriad industrial and political changes that transformed the country during this time. A lyrical, mesmerizing tale, Verghese's (Cutting for Stone) much-anticipated work displays humanity at its best and worst, from addiction and illness to love, art, and beauty. At its heart, the story is about family, both chosen and blood, and the great gifts and burdens bestowed in the name of love. Verghese's prodigious talents as an author are mirrored by his skill as a narrator. Raised by parents who hailed from Kerala, his native accent and pronunciation breathe life into this story, imbuing his characters with depth and a full range of emotions. VERDICT Verghese's narration pairs perfectly with his exquisite prose, creating a not-to-be-missed audio experience. This Oprah's Book Club pick is an essential purchase for all collections.—Katy Duperry
Library Journal
★ 02/01/2023
This new work from Verghese (Cutting for Stone) is not just a novel; it is a literary landmark, a monumental treatment of family and country, as sprawling in scope as Edna Ferber's Giant. The story spans over 70 years and three generations of a family living in Kerala on the western coast of India, a place where water has as much significance as land. But for this family, water is also a curse; in each generation, one family member has died by drowning, and the fear of water looms ominously. The story begins with the awkwardness of the arranged marriage of 12-year-old Mariamma—later known as Big Ammachi (Big Mother)—to a man 40 years her senior, an arrangement with which neither bride nor groom is happy at first. But as time passes, the couple adjusts, and a deep love infuses their union and the generations that follow. Big Ammachi oversees her family with patience and wisdom, remaining present even after death. VERDICT Writing with compassion and insight, Verghese creates distinct characters in Dickensian profusion, and his language is striking; even graphic descriptions of medical procedures are beautifully wrought. Throughout, there are joy, courage, and devotion as well as tragedy; always there is water, the covenant that links all.—Michael F. Russo
June 2023 - AudioFile
Abraham Verghese is a rarity among authors--a gifted writer who is also a dramatic narrator. Once you listen to his nuanced, emotionally charged performance, you'll be convinced that no one else could have better captured the dialects, tones, and cadences of his mostly Indian characters. He also portrays a Scot and an American, among others, and adroitly changes his pitch for male or female characters. The novel is a monumental work of fiction that benefits from the author's fine ear, medical knowledge, and remarkable ability to make complex medical procedures and diagnoses central to this multigenerational story, set in the watery environs of India's southern coast. A long and immersive listen, this audiobook is a tour de force. A.D.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2023-01-25
Three generations of a South Indian family are marked by passions and peccadillos, conditions and ambitions, interventions both medical and divine.
"Where the sea meets white beach, it thrusts fingers inland to intertwine with the rivers snaking down the green canopied slopes of the Ghats. It is a child’s fantasy world of rivulets and canals, a latticework of lakes and lagoons, a maze of backwaters and bottle-green lotus ponds; a vast circulatory system because, as her father used to say, all water is connected." Verghese's narrative mirrors the landscape it is set in, a maze of connecting storylines and biographies so complex and vast that it's almost a little crazy. But as one of the characters points out, "You can't set out to achieve your goals without a little madness." The madness begins in 1900, when a 12-year-old girl is married off to a widower with a young son. She will be known as Ammachi, "little mother," before she's even a teenager. Her life is the central stream that flows through the epic landscape of this story, in which drowning is only the most common of the disastrous fates Verghese visits on his beloved characters—burning, impaling, leprosy, opium addiction, hearing loss, smallpox, birth defects, political fanaticism, and so much more, though many will also receive outsized gifts in artistic ability, intellect, strength, and prophecy. As in the bestselling and equally weighty Cutting for Stone (2009), the fiction debut by Verghese (who's also a physician), the medical procedures and advances play a central role—scenes of hand surgery and brain surgery are narrated with the same enthusiastic detail as scenes of lovemaking. A few times along this very long journey one may briefly wonder, Is all this really necessary? What a joy to say it is, to experience the exquisite, uniquely literary delight of all the pieces falling into place in a way one really did not see coming. As Ammachi is well aware by the time she is a grandmother in the 1970s, "A good story goes beyond what a forgiving God cares to do: it reconciles families and unburdens them of secrets whose bond is stronger than blood."
By God, he's done it again.