The Covenant of Water

Spanning the years 1900 to 1977, Abraham Verghese’s long-awaited, masterful novel follows three generations of a Christian family in Kerala, South India, that suffers a peculiar affliction: in every generation, at least one person dies by drowning. As the novel opens, a twelve-year-old girl is sent by boat to her wedding, where she meets her husband for the first time. She joins a prosperous household and becomes known as Big Ammachi, the matriarch of an extraordinary family that will endure hardship, celebrate triumph, and witness unthinkable changes over the coming decades. The Covenant of Water is an unforgettable and stunning epic of love, faith, and medicine.

Reader Fit: Recommended for readers who appreciate expansive literary fiction that explores family, medicine, faith, and the ways personal histories echo across generations.

Why We Carry It: We carry The Covenant of Water because it immerses readers in the lives of a family whose joys, losses, and traditions unfold over generations in Kerala, India. It broadens understanding by inviting readers into a richly realized cultural landscape while exploring universal themes of love, resilience, and human connection.