The Covenant of Water

Review

I really enjoyed this book—not quite ready to say I loved it but it was close (4.5 stars). The highs: - the author/narrator's love for Kerala came through strongly in the beautiful descriptions of the waterways and forests of Parambil. People say this a lot, but the setting really is a character in this one. - the characters are rich, deep, and human with flaws and idiosyncrasies that make them memorable and captivating. - the central storyline grows more and more powerful as the story extends over 70 years and you get a chance to know the more minor characters. The slightly less high(s): - the pacing can be uneven. Since the book spans such a dramatic range of time and place it can sometimes feel like a succession of "good thing happened, bad thing happened, good thing happened..." over and over without a clear sense of direction. This didn't really throw me off because these episodes never lasted long enough for me to get bored. - the descriptions of surgeries and medical stuff writ large can be frustratingly detailed. You can tell the author loves medicine, but sometimes I wish he would just release a version for med students and a version for regular people.