First Impression Friday will be a meme where you talk about a book that you JUST STARTED! Maybe you’re only a chapter or two in, maybe a little farther. Based on this sampling of your current read, give a few impressions and predict what you’ll think by the end.

Synopsis:

A #1 national bestseller and an Oprah’s Book Club pick, The Covenant of Water is the long-awaited new novel by Abraham Verghese, the author of the major word-of-mouth bestseller Cutting for Stone, which has sold over 1.5 million copies in the United States alone and remained on the New York Times bestseller list for over two years.

Spanning the years 1900 to 1977, The Covenant of Water is set in Kerala, on India’s Malabar Coast, and follows three generations of a family that suffers a peculiar affliction: in every generation, at least one person dies by drowning – and in Kerala, water is everywhere. At the turn of the century, a twelve-year-old girl from Kerala’s Christian community, grieving the death of her father, is sent by boat to her wedding, where she will meet her forty-year-old husband for the first time. From this unforgettable new beginning, the young girl – and future matriarch, Big Ammachi – will witness unthinkable changes over the span of her extraordinary life, full of joy and triumph as well as hardship and loss, her faith and love the only constants.

A shimmering evocation of a bygone India and of the passage of time itself, The Covenant of Water is a hymn to progress in medicine and to human understanding, and a humbling testament to the hardships undergone by past generations for the sake of those alive today. Imbued with humor, deep emotion, and the essence of life, it is one of the most masterful literary novels published in recent years.

The weekend is finally here! Happy Friday everyone! Another (tedious) work week is done. I hope that everyone is ending their work week on a high note. I hope that the work week went well for everyone and that you were all able to accomplish all the tasks you set to achieve at the start of the week. I hope that we are all diving into the weekend with a carefree spirit. While I hope that the previous week was not difficult, I hope that it provided everyone with avenues for growth and perhaps even healing. Regardless, it is now time to ditch those corporate attires and don more comfortable clothing articles. I hope the weekend will provide everyone a brief respite. Apart from resting and recuperating, I hope we spend the weekend catching up with our loved ones and pursuing things we are passionate about.

I am aware it is already Saturday but before I could fully pivot toward the weekend, let me cap yet another work week with a fresh First Impression Friday update. This weekly meme-cum-update has become a tradition, a perfect ending to another blogging week. Woah. I think it has already been five years since I started doing this. I find it particularly helpful when I start writing my reviews. Reading-wise, I have now commenced a new literary journey after spending the last three months and the first week of August reading the works of European literature. It was quite an exhilarating experience, as always. I hope that in the future I get to visit the places these books transported me to. After this months-long journey, I have opted to read works published in the past two years I have been looking forward to. Among these books is Abraham Verghese’s The Covenant of Water.

Before 2023, I had never come across the American writer; he had an Indian heritage. It was while searching for the most anticipated book releases in 2023 that I finally encountered him and his latest novel. It seems that The Covenant of Water is a long-awaited book because Verghese’s last book, Cutting for Stone, was quite the literary sensation; besides, it was published way back in 2008. Another thing that piqued my interest was the fact that Verghese is a physician, and quite prominent at that. It was then a no-brainer for me to include The Covenant of Water in my 2023 Top 10 Books I Look Forward To List. Unfortunately, obtaining a copy of the book proved to be quite a challenge. It was barely available at my local bookshop. It was only until this year that I was able to obtain a copy of the book. Without ado, I made it part of my 2024 reading journey.

Another factor that made me look even forward to reading The Covenant of Water was its inclusion in many best books of 2023 lists. This is also the reason why I was sad I was not able to read the book last year but then, here I am. Verghese’s sophomore novel, the book is a work of historical fiction. The expansive novel commences in 1900 in Southern India where 12-year-old Mariamma was wedded off to a forty-year-old widower called Big Appachen. Mariamma recently lost her father but as part of tradition, she left her family immediately and moved to the town of Parambil in Kerala where her husband’s family lived. The opening sequence immediately sets the tone of the story and already captures several facets of Indian tradition such as arranged marriages and the stark dichotomy between a couple’s ages. Further, Big Mariamma’s widowed mother will be taken in by their relatives but their relatives cannot take in Big Mariamma.

Mariamma soon learned that her husband’s family has a unique affliction. She would call it “the Condition.” Nearly every generation of her husband lost at least one member due to drowning. The circumstances are often suspicious. Contrary to expectation (at least mine), Mariamma’s marriage flourished. She was particularly close to her stepson JoJo even considering him her own. JoJo gave his stepmother the nickname Big Ammachi (Big Mother). However, the affliction strikes at the most inopportune moment, leaving Mariamma aching. Mariamma’s cross to bear was doubled when her daughter Baby Mol was born with developmental disabilities. Nevertheless, Mariamma cherished her daughter. A son named Philipose was also born to the couple.

Alternating with Mariamma’s story is the story of Dr. Digby Kilgour. Unable to get the training he needed in Scotland because of his Catholic religion, the orphaned physician joined the Indian Medical Service in Madras. But like Mariamma, his life was struck with tragedy. He had an affair with Celeste Arnold, his mentor’s wife. One night, while they were sleeping, a candle that was knocked over caused a fire that burned his bedroom. Celeste burned to death and in the effort to save his lover, Digby damaged his hands. The damage was irreparable which means that his talent as a physician is laid to waste. He then invested in an estate he called Gwendolyn Gardens after his mother. He became a farmer but before this, he had to recover from leprosy at a leprosarium run by Dr. Rune Orqvist. Dr. Orqvist also tried to repair his colleague’s hands but with little success.

As these two voices and characters move on with their lives, I can’t wait to see how their paths cross. The book is rather thick, something I did not expect but as someone who enjoys reading thicker books, this does not bother me that much. This means that there are a lot of events I can look forward to, at least I hope so. For now, I will just let the story embrace me. I also want to see how their story intersects with contemporary Indian history; the novel spans nearly eight decades. How about you fellow reader? What book or books have you read over the weekend? I hope you get to enjoy whatever you are reading right now. Happy weekend!