I have been a fan of Abraham Verghese's work for a long time, having already discovered how easy it was to lose myself first in his novel Cutting for Stone as well as in his two memoirs My Own Country: A Doctor's Story and The Tennis Partner. The man is a brilliant writer and storyteller, and I was excited by the prospect of digging into his new novel The Covenant of Water (which comes in at well over 700 pages). I have to admit right up front, however, that I was a little disappointed that this one didn't grab me quite to the degree that the other three books grabbed my full attention for days at a time. Despite that, The Covenant of Water is very likely to be one of the most memorable books I will read in 2023.
The Covenant of Water, which begins in 1900, is a family saga covering three generations of an Indian family living in the St. Thomas Christian community of Kerala, India. It begins when a twelve-year-old girl leaves the only home she has ever known to marry the much older man who has been formerly matched to her by her parents. Her new husband, now widowed with a young son, is looking perhaps more for a new mother for the boy than he is looking for a wife for himself. Luckily for all, the marriage thrives and, in time, the twelve-year-old will become known as "Big Ammachi" (Big Mother) to everyone in her household.
But all is not well in Big Ammachi's new family because the family has suffered what family members prefer to call a "condition" for as far back as anyone can trace the family lineage. It seems that some family members have a panic-driven aversion to water that cannot be explained - a condition so deadly that those afflicted with it are likely to panic and drown in even the shallowest of ditches. And in each generation of the family, at least one person has drowned in one way or the other.
The novel devotes about 250 pages to each generation of the family from 1900 to the 1970s, years that are filled both with tragedy and with triumph as each generation becomes more and more educated about the family "condition" and how best to cope with it. At the same time, a mostly separate plot line about a young Scottish doctor who comes to India for surgical experience is being woven along the same timeline. It is only when the two plot lines eventually merge, and the final secrets about Big Ammachi's family are revealed, that the full impact of The Covenant of Water is felt. The terribly sad, but completely satisfying ending of the story is enough to make this one unforgettable. I rate it a very solid four stars on a five-star scale.
700 pages? Wow. I'm glad the ending was such a satisfying one. I don't think I'd make it through a book that long right now. I always meant to read Verghese's Cutting for Stone because I was intrigued by the Ethiopian setting, but I never did.
ReplyDeleteWhen you get the chance - or the desire - to read a long novel, Verghese is really hard to beat, especially his talent for family sagas. But even his shorter memoirs read almost like novels, and they are well worth a look, too. The man must be brilliant.
DeleteI have read My Own Country and it was so memorable. Dr. Verghese has experienced alot of heartbreak in his career and he is able to share what he's learned through his brilliant memoirs and novels. I have to get back to him. Maybe try Cutting For Stone next.
ReplyDeleteKathy, when I read Cutting for Stone, I knew I would be a fan of his forever. That book just totally enthralled me all the way through the final paragraph. And those memoirs were magnificent.
DeleteI remember loving Cutting for Stone, but have not read his memoirs. It seems like I have been reading a lot of long books this year, so am not put off by the length of his latest. His writing really is something special and I'm looking forward to sinking into Covenant of Water, probably in the fall. Thanks for the review, Sam.
ReplyDeleteI think you will enjoy the book, JoAnn. When I'm in the right mood for it, I really like immersing myself into a new world for long periods of time via a book in the 600-800 page range. Heck, sometimes I hate to come to the end of even the longest of them. I still feel that way every time I finish up Lonesome Dove.
DeleteI am not familiar with this author. The family saga sounds good but 700 pages could be a struggle for me. If I see a copy for a good price, I may give it a try. I would like to read something set in India.
ReplyDeleteI was lucky to snag a library copy of "Covenant" fairly quickly or I doubt that I would have read it by now. I just don't have enough space on my shelves to add the really "big" books to them anymore. India fascinates me more and more as I read books set in that country.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review on this one. You're one of the few who've gotten to all of its 700 pages so far. So it sounds like maybe it didn't grab you as much as his other books but is still good how it comes together. I am a fan of the author's after his memoir The Tennis Partner which was awesome. I still need to read Cutting for Stone!
ReplyDeleteCutting for Stone is still my favorite, I think. Don't miss that one.
DeleteAs it turns out, I'm really glad I made it all the way through this one because the final few chapters changed my perception of the whole novel. If I had quit before that point, I would have missed out on the biggest surprise in the whole book, and on an appreciation for exactly how precisely Verghese constructed the Big Reveal.