Book Review Title: The Covenant of Water Author: Abraham Verghese Publisher: Grove Press UK, 2023 Pages: 724 “What defines a family isn’t blood but the secrets they share.” This massive book explores the intricacies of human relationships with a plot that spans almost a century. The story begins in 1900 with 12-year-old Mariamma being wedded to a 40-year-old widower in whose family runs a curse: death by drowning. The story ends in 1977 with another Mariamma, the granddaughter of Mariamma the First who becomes Big Ammachi [grandmother]. A lot of things happen in the 700+ pages of the novel which has everything that one may expect from a popular novel: suspense, mystery, love, passion, power, vulnerability, and also some social and religious issues. The only setback, if it can be called that at all, is that too many people die in this novel. But then, when death by drowning is a curse in the family, we have to be prepared for many a burial. The Kerala of the pre-Independ...
Thanks, Jeena.
ReplyDeletevery nice thought !
ReplyDeleteNice to see you here, Deepanshi.
DeleteAs free as the birds, Saurabh. "They do not sow or reap..." said Jesus.
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ReplyDeleteThe world is always with us. Happy New Year to you too, Sangeeta.
DeleteEveryday we open our eyes with a new hope and spirit. ..keep that spirit high and start ur hunt for a new path
ReplyDeleteAlready started. And we've begun to see light at the end of the tunnel.
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