I had been wondering if Abraham Verghese would be able to come up with a match for the brilliance of Cutting for Stone, and that is exactly what he has done. The Covenant of Water, while being hauntingly beautiful, is educational in the tradition of the great James A Michener and others who combine historical facts with intensely personal story telling. It is a multi-generational saga ranging over three-quarters of a century.
As an introduction to the story (no spoilers): South India, 1900: Mariamma is about to become a 12 year old bride in an arranged marriage with a 40 year old widower, father of a small son. As it turns out he is shocked when he sees she is a child and he walks out of the church. He is brought back in, reluctantly, the ceremony proceeds, and for the next four years Mariamma lives in his household as a child, and as companion/carer for his little boy, Jo Jo, whom she comes to love. Mariamma’s story proceeds from there and I became so engrossed in it that I didn’t feel ready to move on to the next part of the book, which was Digby’s story; however, when it was time to leave Digby for a while that was even harder.
Digby is a young Scottish doctor and one of the loveliest literary characters to have ever come my way. That is the magic of this book: every part of it and every new character is memorable, and special. It is a very long book (over 700 pages) and covers, among many other subjects, India in the Second World War; research into and treatments devised for serious diseases, and surgical procedures for burns victims; and breaking through the caste system. Art and music are part of the story, and romantic relationships are sensitively and beautifully written about. There are a lot of characters and a lot of threads which all come together eventually, some in very surprising ways.
To become immersed in this book is a deeply moving, emotional experience. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Published by Grove Press UK
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