The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese is a big book of 736 pages set in India and spanning from 1900 to 1977. It follows three generations of a family and starts when a 12-year-old girl is to marry a 40-year-old widower. Big Ammachi, as the girl and future matriarch of Parambil will come to be known, holds the narrative together through the seven decades. The saga is set against the background of the caste system, the colonised and later independent India and the scenery and geography of Southern India. But it is the people and their dramas and dreams that propel the story forward.
Parallel to Big Ammachi’s storyline we also follow a medical doctor from Scotland, Digby Kilgour and another doctor from Sweden, Rune Orquist. Verghese who was born in Egypt to Indian parents is a physician and the book features some very detailed descriptions of medical conditions and operations. Verghese understands that even when a disease cannot be cured, the person with the disease can be healed, and you feel this throughout the book, especially in the leper colony set up by Rune.
What makes this story very special for me is the tenderness with which the author has imbued the characters in this book. Despite the personal tragedies and the major political events, you feel there is hope for humanity because of the kindness in people.
Here is an admission: I didn’t read the 736 pages, I listened to it as an audiobook narrated by the author himself. It is the most beautiful audiobook I have ever listened to. The Indian lilt of the author’s voice and the slow, deliberate way in which he read the story transported me to the world far away from my own.
A little sidenote for those unfamiliar with audiobooks: Most audiobooks are now in digital form and you can borrow them from the library or buy them from Libro.fm. Audiobook platform Libro.fm is new to the New Zealand market and (unlike the Amazon owned Audible) they share profits from audio purchases with your chosen bookstore.
Wilma
