The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese

Amy   

historical fiction

The Covenant of Water is a family saga covering the generations of one family living in southern India throughout the first ¾ of the 20^th century. It begins with a young bride who is sent to marry an older widow at the turn of the century. The novel also focuses on a few white doctors serving in India and the healthcare benefits they bring to their communities.

I learned a lot about India in this long novel and the characters were terrific. The outside world events were very peripheral to the characters’ stories. Abraham Verghese’s focus was the experiences of the characters in a small farming community including their local struggles with healthcare, society, politics, utilities, and nature. However, it’s not all about struggles. There is a lot of joy and satisfaction within the pages.  In fact, there are some pretty humorous sections as well. There was even a pinch of magical realism which always makes me happy.

This novel had a slow start for me. Thankfully, just as I was beginning to lose patience, the novel changed to a new character’s point of view.  But the first 25% was pretty slow-paced. I decided that the slow audiobook narration wasn't helping and I moved it up a notch and kept it there for the remainder of the audiobook. I also think that was about the same time the story got more interesting, though.

I had forgotten that Verghese is a Medical Doctor. When I read another book of his years ago, Cutting for Stone (before we had this blog), I felt many of the medical details he had provided were graphic and gross. Well, this novel is also graphic and gross at times. I could have done without so many details even though a lot of the story is about medical issues and the people who practice medicine in India. Still, despite my cringing and nose-wrinkling, some medical things interested me. Did you know that brains don’t harden until a long time after death?

India has a very complicated history and many divisions of people by caste and religion which is covered in the novel. But this story is about love, family, and caring for others. Some of Verghese’s words about slavery were the clearest, most pointed observations I’ve ever heard and should be read by everyone. I also appreciated how, on three separate occasions, I thought the story was going to take a much darker turn than it did. But, thankfully, Verghese avoided diving the reader into despair. He kept it all relevant and as hopeful as possible. Some authors would’ve gone “there” and made life even more miserable for the characters just to add temporary drama.

In the end, it was a sweeping saga, wonderfully written, full of terrific characters.

The audiobook narrator was the author himself and he was terrific!  He even displayed a (not terrific but passable) variety of accents including European and southern American accents! And he sang a few verses! I usually enjoy authors’ narrations but very few display vocal repertoires like Verghese's.  Despite the fact that he read too slowly for my taste, he gets an A for his vocal acting and skills.