A review by just_one_more_paige
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese

emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

 
I read Verghese's novel Cutting for Stone years ago. Like, I was very early in college, I think? It has to have been over 10 years. It was a recommendation from my mom, who had loved it. And while I only have vague recollections of what it was about (a doctor/surgeon was the MC, at least part of it took place in Ethiopia...), I remember I loved it as well. So, seeing this newest novel from him get published, I was excited. Though I won't lie, seeing how long it was definitely intimidated me. And then it was a Oprah's Book Club pick so the waitlist for it at the library exploded. But, I finally got my hands on it and (with the help of the audiobook, that Verghese himself narrates) embarked on this epic reading journey. 
 
This is one of those saga-style novels that can't really be captured in a "blurb." It is set in Kerala (on the western side of India's southern tip) and spans almost the entire 20th century as it follows three generations of a family that has a peculiar "affliction," that in every generation at least one person dies by drowning. Since water is such a key part of Kerala's geography and lifestyle, this is a particularly notable (and dangerous) affliction. We enter into this family through a young girl being married into it. This girl will become known as Big Ammachi and will, over the years, become the cornerstone and matriarch of the family, a steadfast force leading through generations of growth, turmoil, death, progress and more with the strength of her faith and love. 
 
This is an intergenerational saga of a family, and a land, that is on par with The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois and The Arsonists' City. It is sweeping and epic in all the right ways; pulling you  out of your own life and into its pages so smoothly paced and inexorably that you don't even notice that it's happened. It took me a moment to get there, because it's not a "grab you right away" style of book (more of a steady build situation), but that being said, get there I did. The beauty of this novel is in the details. This is the story of a family that is remarkable only in the ways that every family is unique and compelling. These characters are not special in any ways other than their individuality (as we all are), but Verghese makes their everyday lives and stories something to become engrossed in and even, at times, wonder at. They celebrate weddings and births, grieve losses and separation, wish for prosperity in their ventures (growing crops, pursuing careers and artistic endeavors), fight for love (and those they love), experience personal growth and sacrifice for their family and friends. And for all that I have never been to India (nor was alive in the years 1900-1977), there is a universality of humanity in those experiences that makes so much of this eminently familiar.  
 
In addition to that recognizability, there is also quite a bit in these pages that is foreign (at least to this reader - as I mentioned, the years in focus, the location of the story, the daily lives and careers of the characters are not anything I have personal experience with). And it's in the writing of the details of those specific aspects that the full impact of this novel comes together. Verghese's attention to the tiny details of tradition and food and home and land and history that give this novel a profound sense of setting and brings everything to vibrant life. He infuses so much of India - the religious beliefs and class groupings, the political movements, the cultures, the descriptions of the land, and of course the impact of colonialism and settler POVs and how that changes/affects everything - into this book. (On that note, I'm quite appreciative of the complex views of Digby's, as a lower "caste" in his own land who feels discomfort in being part of a higher, oppressor class in India *and* of Celeste's British heritage but born and raised in India perspective. The discomfort of the dissonance they each experience in not belonging either place is palpable, something I'm more used to reading from a BIPOC perspective - so unique in that way as well and, honestly, it provides such a important message on how all these racial/nationality/class identities are deeply arbitrary anyways.) Anyways, overall, this felt like such an authentic historical fiction portrait of a region. And in reading Verghese's acknowledgements, it's clear this is due, at least in part, to the memories shared by his own family and friends. That comes through so strongly and clearly throughout and I loved that. 
 
I have a couple other notes I'd like to make on this reading experience. First, there are quite a few traumatic deaths that happen on page (obviously some drowning, but not all) and other instances of significant trauma/injuries. Plus, as medicine is a central theme (there are a couple MCs that are medical doctors/surgeons), please be aware that there are many other cases of fairly graphic medical content. Faith is also a major theme in this novel. Big Ammachi, and thus her family, are part of Kerala's Christian community and so that religion is infused in most of their interactions. It's woven in genuinely, in a way that fits the flow and doesn't overtake, for all that it's ubiquitous...but for me, religion is also a complicated theme and while I appreciated the way it was interwoven, it was not a favorite piece for me. And let's just talk about the ending real quick. I was waiting, and waiting, and waiting for these disparate characters and plot details to all come together. There were hints at it, and small overlaps, throughout, but I knew it was building to something more. And it was taking so long to get there that I was nervous the book would end before I felt satisfied by the denouement. I should not have worried. The ending absolutely stood up to the depth of the rest of the novel; an incredibly striking final scene that left me with acutely and completely felt final emotions. 
 
My goodness. This was just an incredible novel of the complexities of humanity. It was intimate and individual, but also representative of a nation (a shared history and identity) and a more general comprehensive human fellowship.  And what sweeping scope and ambitious storytelling. There were so many moving parts that tied together to give the reader a profound sense of place and people. These are the kinds of characters and stories that stay with you, as a reader. Finding the time and space to read this is an undertaking, but if/when you are in the mood for it, ready for it, I believe it's worth it. 
 
“But such memories are woven from gossamer threads; time eats holes in the fabric, and these she must darn with myth and fable." 
 
"...a tale that leaves its imprint on a listener tells the truth about how the world lives, and so, unavoidably, it is about families, their victories and wounds, and their departed, including the ghosts who linger; it must offer instructions for living in God's realm, where joy never spares one from sorrow. A good story goes beyond what a forgiving God cares to do: it reconciles families and unburdens them of secrets whose bond is stronger than blood. But in their revealing, as in their keeping, secrets can tear a family apart.” 
 
“…a sound treatment has salutary effects on the family, and [that] a single patient can alter a doctor's fortunes.” 
 
“You can’t walk across a lake just because you change its name to 'land.' Labels matter.” 
 
“A fantasy far from its source is hard to maintain.” 
 
“You can’t set out to achieve your goals without a little madness.” 
 
“Sometimes we must imagine what is there to find it.” 
 
“The voyage of discovery isn’t about new lands but having new eyes.” 
 
“Every family has secrets, but not all secrets are meant to deceive.” 
 
“In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” 
 
“But in nature, one fixed idea is unnatural.” 
 
“This is the covenant of water: that they're all linked inescapably by their acts of commission and omission, and no one stands alone.” 
 
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