--- description: Find out why "The Covenant of Water" By Abraham Verghese is on TIME's list of the must-read books of the year. title: 'The Covenant of Water' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2023 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa52063c204c1285/698a420447ca3864b93bb4d9/TheCovenantOfWater.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 14, 2023 # The Covenant of Water By Abraham Verghese by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  After 14 years, physician [Abraham Verghese](https://time.com/6274960/best-books-may-2023/ "undefined") returns with the follow-up to his 2009 best-selling fiction debut _Cutting For Stone._ _The Covenant of Water_ follows three generations of an unlucky South Indian family. The Parambils, led by matriarch Big Ammachi, suffer the same tragedy in each generation: at least one person dies by drowning. The over 700-page novel set in Kerala, a southwestern Indian state surrounded by water, between the years of 1900 and 1977, is an evocative work of epic proportions. It is both historical fiction that offers a voyeuristic view into India’s history and a detailed accounting of the medical advancements of the 20th century. Most notably, _The Covenant of Water_ is a religious fable in which Verghese attempts to answer the age-old question: Why do bad things happen to good people? —_Shannon Carlin_ **Buy Now:** _Covenant of Water_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780802162175 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/3FUIqaU "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332833/the-covenant-of-water/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332833/the-covenant-of-water/"},"headline":"The Covenant of Water","datePublished":"2023-11-14T12:30:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:26:07.208Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332833/the-covenant-of-water/","keywords":["Books","list","best books"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa52063c204c1285/698a420447ca3864b93bb4d9/TheCovenantOfWater.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa52063c204c1285/698a420447ca3864b93bb4d9/TheCovenantOfWater.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332833/the-covenant-of-water/","name":"The Covenant of Water"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME's 100 Must-Read Books of 2023","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/WppeqCEz/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2023-11-13T19:20:52.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/WppeqCEz.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332833/the-covenant-of-water/","duration":"PT1M28S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332833/the-covenant-of-water/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```