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The Covenant of Water
- Narrated by: Abraham Verghese
- Length: 31 hrs and 16 mins
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The Covenant of Water
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Summary
OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • SUBJECT OF A SIX-PART SUPER SOUL PODCAST SERIES HOSTED BY OPRAH WINFREY
From the New York Times-bestselling author of Cutting for Stone comes a stunning and magisterial epic of love, faith, and medicine, set in Kerala, South India, following three generations of a family seeking the answers to a strange secret
“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
The Covenant of Water is the long-awaited new novel by Abraham Verghese, the author of the major word-of-mouth bestseller Cutting for Stone, which has sold over 1.5 million copies in the United States alone and remained on the New York Times bestseller list for over two years.
Spanning the years 1900 to 1977, The Covenant of Water is set in Kerala, on South India’s Malabar Coast, and follows three generations of a family 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 from Kerala’s long-existing Christian community, 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 unforgettable new beginning, the young girl—and future matriarch, known as Big Ammachi—will witness unthinkable changes over the span of her extraordinary life, full of joy and triumph as well as hardship and loss, her faith and love the only constants.
A shimmering evocation of a bygone 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 difficulties undergone by past generations for the sake of those alive today. It is one of the most masterful literary novels published in recent years.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Joanna JJ
- 04-06-24
I'm in love with this family.
I am more a non-fiction girl than a fictional saga one. I have no idea why I even bought this audiobook. I'm happy I did. What a story! ...and all those beautiful words. I love the language and descriptions. It is a great book dedicated to all women. Those who reach for something more than the creation of a home full of love, wise advice and whispers of encouragement. ...and those who make it possible for the next generation to reach the unreachable for women in many countries.
I'm a huge fan of Big Ammachi. She reminds me of my nana- wise, calm, full of love and kindness for others. I'm Polish and maybe there is a whole world between me and Big Ammachi in time and space but I fall in love with this beautiful woman.
It is one of the most beautiful stories I've read in a long time!
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- bookword
- 06-09-23
Beautiful and atmospheric writing but far too long winded. Lugubrious, self pitying reading voice is hard to endure.
Chose this based on reading the excellent Cutting for Stone.
The Covenant of Water revisits similar themes and contains some great (atmospheric, thought provoking) writing, but like far too many books today it is too long -we need more brave and assiduous editors!
I usually enjoy the authenticity of books read by their author but, of course, not all good authors are good readers - I know that I would be terrible. In this case, the book is hard to listen to because of poor accent impersonations but mainly because the author’s lugubrious, mournful voice and self-pitying tone is hard to endure for so long.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- ladypea
- 22-05-23
Brilliant
Wonderful intertwining stories, narrated beautifully. Enlightening of a culture from a person who knows. Really felt he bright the characters to
Live
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2 people found this helpful
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- Edwina Clarke
- 17-08-23
A wonderful enthralling novel
A story that is utterly absorbing and conjures up the essence of India. I loved it.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- rachel sandby-thomas
- 11-09-23
Gorgeous book. Didn’t want it to end.
Having already read Cutting Stones by him many years ago, very excited to see this. It is an epic tale spanning most of the 20 century, funny, tender, sad and interesting all at the same time. Highly, highly recommend it.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- karladestiny
- 08-08-23
what a lovely story
so interesting, struggled to stop listening always wanting to hear what happened next. beautiful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Heather Benghiat
- 13-09-23
A must read, stunning saga
I chose this book on Audible and the narrator is the author. It took me a while to ‘tune in’ to his voice and style, but when I did, I found it to be very soothing. There are many stories within this story and we move from one set of characters to another repeatedly - at times when I didn’t want to. But the threads running through it all were those of human frailty, perseverance, loyalty and so much love. It’s an incredible achievement. It is a story of epic proportions but stick with it; you will be so very glad you did. I can see why Oprah was raving about it! She’s right of course!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Christina
- 20-02-24
A gripping narrative set in India through the 20th century
Abraham Verghese has written a brilliant story- I had to keep listening to find out how the different characters all interweaved. The medical content was really interesting and the characters were beautifully portrayed. My only criticism is that Digby’s Scottish accent was not quite right, but I loved Verghese’s Indian accent!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- BridgetFM
- 26-03-24
What a story!
I’m not sure what to make of this novel except that I really loved it. The characters are so alive. They jump off the page and the local descriptions are also vivid and colourful that they transport the reader to the exact location. The story sometimes seemed too conveniently exaggerated for belief, but nevertheless it worked for me. Tom thoroughly recommend this book.
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- Anonymous User
- 26-03-24
The beauty and intricacy of the story.
This is one of the best books I’ve ever listened to. Well done to the author who is also the reader. A magnificent work.
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