By Kavita Mistry
by Anthony Conty (Parkville, MD): “The Covenant of Water” by Abraham Vergese sat on my bedside table for two years, as its intimidating size and depth made me nervous. It was worth it for me. There is enough going on to justify the length. A true sign of a great writer is when they make the story engaging before everything comes together and jells.
The plot, which you could find anywhere, deals with a family with a mysterious death by drowning every generation, resulting in 77 years of love, suffering, dramatic events, and severed family ties. Multiple story lines will make you miss characters when they are gone for too long. Even Digby, technically an adulteress, will arouse your empathy as he experiences unspeakable tragedy.
Philipose is another character who will make you sad as he struggles with deafness and the family’s water curse. His knowledge of how to manage his abilities reflects how people who are hard of hearing persevere and behave differently from the rest of us. He becomes a parent and makes mistakes as a husband and parent that most may recognize.
Reading reviews written by others shows an unnatural focus on length. People consistently drudged through the 715 pages. That aspect did not bother me, given the many timelines to finish, though it is a fair point to consider when accounting for taste. My thumb stays up because Vergese does not linger too long on any one topic and thoroughly explains his premise.
When I read works by the greats, I often say, “I could never write like this.” Vergese also finds a way to assure you that you could not be a doctor either, based on his character’s health struggles. The levels here are beyond any book that you would randomly pick up, and, yes, you should pick it up.