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The Covenant of Water (Oprah's Book Club)

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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736 pages

Average rating: 8.34

1,088 RATINGS

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41 REVIEWS

Community Reviews

OceanCruiseReader
Oct 28, 2024
9/10 stars
Spot on, Oprah! Spot on! This book is transportive!
Ani84
Oct 10, 2024
8/10 stars
The characters in this book become friends over time and I found myself rooting for them.
Cathy P
Sep 04, 2024
10/10 stars
An epic story set in Kerala spanning the years 1900 to 1977, which follows three generations of a family that suffers a peculiar affliction: in every generation, at least one family member dies drowning.
Hummingbird
Aug 27, 2024
10/10 stars
Best book I’ve ever read. Verghese takes us through generations of the joys and challenges of a family in Kerala India with a palpable underlying basis of love. He is a physician in real life and his medical expertise is incorporated in the book in an interesting but not technical manner. I love his characters, the fascinating and beautiful locations and didn’t want it to end. Highest recommendation.
TexasPinesLady
Jul 14, 2024
7/10 stars
Wonderful book!!

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