Free Audiobook : The Covenant of Water, by Abraham Verghese

The Covenant of Water marks the much-anticipated new work by Abraham Verghese, renowned author of the surprise hit Cutting for Stone, which has moved over 1.5 million copies solely in the United States and stayed on the New York Times bestseller list for more than two years.

Covering the period from 1900 to 1977, The Covenant of Water takes place in Kerala, on the Malabar Coast of Southern India, tracing three generations of a family plagued by a unique curse: in every generation, at least one individual succumbs to drowning—and in Kerala, water is omnipresent. As the 20th century dawns, a twelve-year-old girl from Kerala's ancient Christian community, mourning the loss of her father, is ferried to her wedding where she will encounter her forty-year-old groom for the first time. From this striking start, the young girl—destined to become the family matriarch known as Big Ammachi—will experience unimaginable transformations throughout her remarkable life, a journey filled with joy and victory as well as adversity and sorrow, her faith and love being the enduring pillars.

The Covenant of Water is a radiant portrayal of an erstwhile India and the relentless march of time. It serves as a tribute to advancements in medicine and to human empathy, and offers a humbling acknowledgement to the hardships endured by previous generations for the benefit of the present. This novel stands as one of the most skillfully crafted literary works introduced in recent times.