I think that this phrase pretty much sums up this book -- Life stinks and then you die.
Three generations on two continents with so much sadness and tragedy. This story was almost unbearable to read. When it all comes together in the last several chapters, I admit I found it almost overwhelming to imagine the lives of those characters and all they suffered. I don't think this book is for everyone, and certainly at 736 pages requires an investment, but I am glad I finished it.
"It's the water that connects them all in time and space... This is the covenant of water: that they're all linked inescapably by their acts of commission and omission, and no one stands alone."
What a cast of characters -- all lovingly drawn in larger-than-life descriptions that make them real in the mind of the reader. You can't help but feel for them throughout their trials and ordeals with only the briefest moments of happiness. Spanning decades from 1900 to the 1970s, life in these parts of India is full of many contradictions. Religion, family, love, land, water, caste, politics, medicine, and leprosy are just a few of the themes that make up the narrative. It's an epic and truly a literary novel written by a master storyteller.
Do I recommend it -- yes. I will be thinking about this book for a long time and look forward to discussing it with my book buddies.
This is a standalone work of literary fiction and is not part of any series.
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