A review by emmalong
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese

5.0

WWWWOOOOOOWWWWWW. this was (technically) my first book by this author, but after reading this one and checking the synopsis of his other, i will 10000% be reading that one as well. this book completely took me by surprise. i love a generational, sweeping, epic novel but this one also had so much more to offer than just that. there was so much about culture, medicine, familial love and connections, and deep explorations of humanity; all themes that i ADORE reading about. Big Ammachi and Mariamma were two of my favorite characters that i have ever read about. even though she is more than 700 pages in length, i was always always hoping for more and wanting the story to never end. verghese breathes so much life into his characters and stories that it all felt so real. the synopsis of this story imbibes it as "humbling testament to the hardships undergone by past generations for the sake of those alive today" and i simply could not agree more. so unbelievably exceptional and i am so glad i trusted my gut when i picked this one up.