The Covenant of Water

by Abraham Verghese

  • Grove Press
  • 2023
  • ISBN: 978-0802162175
  • 736 pages
  • WorldCat
Covenant of Water book cover
About the Book

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. 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. Imbued with humor, deep emotion, and the essence of life, it is one of the most masterful literary novels published in recent years. ebook icon Audio book icon

Oprah's Book Club Pick | Instant New York Times Bestseller | Subject of a Six-Part Soul Podcast Series Hosted by Oprah Winfrey
Abraham Verghese
About the Author

Abraham Verghese is an American physician and author. He lives and practices medicine in Stanford, California where he is the Linda R. Meier and Joan F. Lane Provostial Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine. He also is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and the author of books including the NBCC Award finalist My Own Country and the New York Times Notable Book The Tennis Partner. His most recent book, Cutting for Stone, spent 107 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and sold more than 1.5 million copies in the U.S. alone. It was translated into more than twenty languages and is being adapted for film by Anonymous Content. Verghese was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2016, has received five honorary degrees, and is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. A decade in the making, The Covenant of Water is his first book since Cutting for Stone.

Host a Book Discussion

  • Covenant of Water social mediaDo you want to share this book with your reading group? The Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM) has made it easy to promote and discuss.

    • Discussion Guide PDF
    • Social Media JPG
    • Poster PDF* [8.5 x 11]
    • Reading Club Bookmark PDF


    * How to edit PDF files

Terms of use: Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM) staff offer these health discussion resources for educational use. The materials included do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the author, publisher, or the sponsoring agencies of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).