THE COVENANT OF WATER by Abraham Vergese

5 stars

This brilliant, sweeping historical opus by Vergese (author of the simply amazing book Cutting for Stone, along with two others) opens with a young 12-year-old girl getting married off to a widower in his forties, to go live with him and his young son on a remote jungle estate in Kerala, located in Southern India right on the coast. The marriage has been arranged by the widower’s sister, who encourages him to raise the girl as a child in his home and caregiver to his young son until she comes of age to take on wifely duties. She proves endlessly resourceful, buoyed by her strong Indian Christian religious faith and tough resilience.

What enfolds encompasses three generations, with the young girl growing into a powerful, loving, strong and tough matriarch known as Big Ammachi (“Big Mother”), who raises the orphaned JoJo and goes on to have a son and daughter of her own, and eventually a daughter-in-law and grandchild who grows up to become a physician. Hauntingly running through the narrative is a family curse, couple with a fear of water, that leaves one family member drowned in each generation. The novel opens in 1900 and stretches to 1977, with historical events unfolding from the emergence from British colonial control to social upheavals and struggles with the caste system to the end of the Raj.  Verghese tells Big Ammachi’s story infused with compassion, presenting his characters as well-meaning people facing a barrage of challenging and in some cases devastating events. The novel’s axis centers mainly around plot, without any deep individual character building but rather a blending of archetypes.

Drawing on his own background as a doctor, Verghese weaves into the story countless gripping medical scenes and the stunning progress of medicine across eight decades. Running on a separate narrative stream, the story of Digby, a Scottish doctor enfolds, with the two narratives eventually powerfully merging.

This novel is destined to become a classic!

Thanks to Grove Atlantic, Grove Press, and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

Stacy DeBroff

Stacy DeBroff, founder and CEO of Mom Central.com and social and digital consultancy, Influence Central, is a social media strategist, attorney, and best-selling parenting author. A sought-after expert for national media, she trend-spots regularly with national brands and speaks frequently to national and international audiences on a wide range of subjects, including influencer marketing, social media, entrepreneurship, and consumer trends. A passionate cook, gardener, reader, and tennis player, she adores this new chapter of post-college-age parenting.