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...
We visited Bhoothathankettu last week only. It is one of the three places that we keep visiting, Bhoothathankettu, PaniyeliPoru and Ezhattumugham are those three as all three of them are easy to reach and so similar. Bhoothathankettu, due to its proximity, is like the first real tourist place I visited multiple times during childhood.And that tree is quite the one to catch one's attention, so is the cave and the swing, right? Is the fallen tree also there on the way?
ReplyDeleteYes, the tree is still lying on the way though not obstructing the path.
DeleteGood
ReplyDelete