Skip to content

The Covenant of Water

by Abraham Verghese

Cover of The Covenant of Water
Popularity 121

Spanning the years 1900 to 1977, three generations of a Christian family in Kerala, South India, suffer 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.

nyt:combined-print-and-e-book-fiction=2023-05-21New York Times bestsellerdrowningfamiliesfictionhistorical fiction