The Covenant of Water

Immediately after its release, Abraham Verghese's The Testament of Water became an absolute bestseller. South India, family secrets, pernicious passions, healing wisdom and many more human stories woven into the country's history. Set from 1900 to 1977 in Kerala on India's Malabar Coast, the novel spans three generations of a family beset by an ominous curse: one person from each generation dies of drowning, and in Kerala, water is everywhere.

In the early twentieth century, a twelve-year-old girl takes a boat to marry a man of forty, whom she will see for the first time. From here begins the amazing life of the young woman, during which we will witness all kinds of changes and which is filled with joy and victories, but also with hardships and losses. There are no negative characters in the novel; all the psychological dramas and tragedies are woven into everyday life and do not destroy it, as in fact they do in real life. The family saga is intended as a celebration of the mother, the woman and her great wisdom and strength. And after reading it, we are left with the feeling we carry from childhood: that our world is based precisely on love of life, on compassion and empathy.

Written in beautiful language, infused with subtle humor and deep feeling, The Covenant of Water is among the most beautiful and engaging novels published in recent years.