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The Covenant of Water

Written by: Abraham Verghese
Narrated by: Abraham Verghese
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Publisher's 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.

©2022 Abraham Verghese (P)2022 Recorded Books
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What listeners say about The Covenant of Water

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Phenomenal

I love when books are narrated by their author, this one especially. Abraham Verghese does and absolutely stunning job at crafting such depth of characters, using so much imagery to convey a beautiful story.

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Wow

Absolutely beautiful and tragic. Poetic and smart, each word carefully chosen to evoke the mood and feelings of each and every character. Loved, absolutely loved the author’s narration and bringing the characters to life.

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Variety of narrators would be good.

Good story - I always enjoy reading a story of many parts and finding them all connecting. The narration would have been better I believe, with another person to give the Irish accent! I kept getting confused as to what story I was listening to!

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What an enjoyable novel!

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel from start to finish, it definitely was very entertaining with the author reading it.

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Best book/audiobook by far.

Even better was listening to the author tell the story. I was submerged into the world of these characters and I will miss them forever.

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Riveting. Provocative. Artistic and lyrically performed.

From first page I was enamored with the descriptive words, smooth voice and story. I have enjoyed this story, these characters and this slice of " history" immensely!

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An immersive escape

Enchanting and captivating storytelling that is absolutely impossible to set aside. I was drawn inside and it left a mark

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Marvellously intertwined!

I only disliked that it ended. I fell in love with every character. Such a fan.

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Riveting believable story

Good narration, easy to listen to. I liked this story very much, enjoyed this glimpse into life in India. So much tragedy, and heartache, but such IS real life.

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Amazing!!!

Abraham Vergese does not disappoint!! His narration makes this book a compelling listen. I only hope he continues to write more novels.

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