The Covenant of Water: An Oprah’s Book Club Selection
£4.70
AN OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB SELECTION
‘One of the best books I’ve read in my entire life. It’s epic. It’s transportive . . . It was unputdownable!’ Oprah Winfrey, OprahDaily.com
Spanning the years 1900 to 1977, The Covenant of Water follows a family in southern India 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, 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 poignant beginning, the young girl and future matriarch – known as Big Ammachi – will witness unthinkable changes at home and at large over the span of her extraordinary life, full of the joys and trials of love and the struggles of hardship.
A shimmering evocation of a lost 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 hardships undergone by past generations for the sake of those alive today. Imbued with humour, deep emotion and the essence of life, it is one of the most masterful literary novels published in recent years.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Grove Press UK (18 May 2023) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| File size | 5243 KB |
| Text-to-Speech | Enabled |
| Enhanced typesetting | Enabled |
| X-Ray | Enabled |
| Word Wise | Enabled |
| Sticky notes | On Kindle Scribe |
| Print length | 794 pages |
by Nanananah
This novel was a delight to read, learning about each character and how they survived their own individual dilemmas and triumphs. A longer book than I would normally read but I couldn’t stop reading it! I cannot find adequate words to explain why someone should read it. Will recommend to my book club.
by kate d
I would have given this book ten stars if it were possible. I absolutely loved it.
by anna savin
Not often do I read a book that makes you feel that you are experiencing being part of someone’s family but this book did. I could taste the food, hear the noises and feel the heat and exhaustion of the inhabitants. What a story, kept me hooked until the very end.
by Kindle Customer
This book is absolutely superb. If you have read Cutting for Stone you will appreciate the author’s talents. It’s a sweeping family saga set in southern India over eight decades. The characterisation is excellent and the story sweeps you along. Can’t recommend it highly enough.
by Mr. F.E. Pearson
India is a country I love to visit, though I have not been to Kerala. As a start reading this novel has brought that state higher on my bucket list.
As well as being highly readable it covers an unusual story subject of which I can only assume the author has much personal knowledge. As I got into the story I thought my rather squeamish character would be put off, it wasn’t, instead it held me both by the humanity of the characters in the story and by the way it educated me. Once into it with the pattern of events established it became very difficult to put it down. This is a writer who obviously loves his country and his calling (the calling before becoming a novelist). I fully recommend it.
by Fiona Nichols
I like this author. So much so that I reread his books! I’ve been a fan every since ‘Cutting for Stone’ and recommend his writing to many a friend.
This is a recent publication and wanting to wallow in the backwaters of southern India, I plunged in to learn, listen and review my own experiences of this region.
Verghese writes a very convincing human interest story with an engaging style – starting from the first paragraph where we learn a 12-year old girl is to be married that day – that weaves together history, sense of place, human suffering and medical information fairly seamlessly. A 12-year old! In 2023, it is hard to imagine, so you read on.
As a medical practitioner himself, there is an indulgence toward this aspect of his writing but as a reader some 120 years after the epoch in which the story starts, is serves to underline the medical advances and advantages we have today, and equally how the women’s rights movement have also evolved. Hopefully in Kerala too.
I shall read this book again and no doubt appreciate other aspects I had previously missed.
by little bookworm
The Covenant of Water spans across three generations and across two continents, a sprawling epic. However, it all starts when twelve year old Mariamma is betrothed and journeys with her husband to her new home of Parambil. Over the years she will become known as Big Ammachi, the much respected matriarch of the family, and will suffer joys and heartache in turn. In particular, she will learn of the Condition that afflicts members of the family, whereby in each generation at least one person dies by drowning. Interspersed with the story of the family at Parambil, is also the story of Dr Digby Kilgour, who travels from Scotland to India, to work as a medic.
At over 700 pages long, there is no doubt that The Covenant of Water is not an easy undertaking, however, I had heard a lot of praise being bestowed upon it, and as such decided to give it a go. Certainly I was left in no doubt that Verghese is a talented author, for this is a novel of epic scope, and yet also minute detail. Furthermore, whilst I have to admit that there were certain parts of the story where I found my attention waning, for the most part he managed to not only keep my interest, but have me very much invested in the characters involved.
First and foremost, I have to commend the author for the brilliant and vivid way he brings India to life, the sights and smells and colours, the culture and way of life, which also changes vastly across the expanse of the story. We start with a girl of twelve being married off to a widower of forty, her entire life mapped out before her, yet we end with a different Mariamma, her granddaughter, practicing medicine as a surgeon, a young woman with a career. We also see India gain its independence across the span of the novel, with the social and political changes that followed.
Verghese is a physician, as well as an author, and his passion for medicine was clear to see in this novel. Perhaps there might have been too much detail at times, however, I for one, was intrigued with the chapters told from Digby’s point of view as he adjusts to life as a surgeon in India, with the diseases often having been left untreated for so long and presenting much more advanced. Another character in the story suffers from the debilitating effects of congenital hypothyroidism, with stunted growth and neurological impairment, something rarely seen in the UK, due to neonatal screening and easy treatment with hormone replacement. Then there is the focus on patients suffering from leprosy, and of course the mysterious Condition that affects the Parambil family, and later we follow the young Mariamma as she goes through medical school and training.
More than anything though this is a family saga, with Big Ammachi the beating heart of the story. The first part that focuses on her marriage, and early days at Parambil as a child bride draw you into the story straight away and make you fall in love with her character. Furthermore, as we follow her through the years, becoming a mother, and later a grandmother, her resilience and goodness always shines through. However, it is not just Big Ammachi who is well drawn here, but a myriad of characters. Digby, in particular, stands out, perhaps because next to Big Ammachi he is the character we follow for the longest time. From his early troubled days in Glasgow, to his days as an eager but naive young surgeon, we are there at his lowest ebbs and watch as he rises to meet the challenges life throws at him, to become a dedicated and wise old man.
Other characters that particularly stood out for me were Philipose, who though not always likeable, had such an exuberance to him, and even when I didn’t necessarily like him, I felt as though I understood him, his insecurities that led to certain actions. Furthermore, I enjoyed his character arc and his redemption. Elsie too stood out, and was so tragically drawn in the end. Shamuel was another personal favourite, as was Rune and Baby Mol. I will say that for some reason I never connected quite as well with the youngest generation, Lenin and the young Mariamma, and for me their parts of the story, up until the very end, were the parts that perhaps dragged out. However, I suppose when you have a novel over 700 pages, that spans such a long period and has so many characters, it is hard to be quite as invested in everyone.
The relationships were well depicted here too, and not always as expected. For instance Big Ammachi’s relationship with her husband is ultimately one of the more contented and fulfilling ones depicted in the story, with Verghese actually showing her husband in a very honourable light, and choosing to take a very different course to what I had perhaps initially expected, and challenging stereotypes and judgments. Other relationships end far more tragically, and Philipose and Elsie’s marriage in particular I thought was well depicted, for all the strains upon it, and how despite all the initial promise, they can but draw apart.
Other relationships were touching too, the many friendships that are witnessed, for instance Digby and Rune, and simply the way that the characters’ lives interweave together, ebbing and flowing at different times of the story. Indeed by the end this seemed like a tapestry that Verghese had woven, and I have to say I thought the ending brought all the different strands of the book together really well and in a clever and unexpected way. Yes, at times it did seem a little contrived how some of the characters’ paths crossed, however, ultimately I could forgive the element of convenience that played a hand at times when considering the bigger picture.
Overall, this was a story told with immense richness, a story not afraid to takes its time, a story that is informative, covering subjects such as medicine, religion, culture and social change, but most of all human emotion. Yes, the size is intimidating, and at times the vast array of characters and the jumping between them, as well as the jumping forwards in time frames can seem jarring, however it was impossible not to be impressed by this book, and get swept away to another place and time.
by Amazon Customer
I liked this book, the story was good , but I thought it longer than it could have been . I learned a lot from it .