Grove/Atlantic
We may receive an affiliate commission on anything you purchase from this item.
Dr. Abraham Verghese teaches medical students at Stanford University School of Medicine. But he has another vocation: author. His novel “The Water Alliance” (Grove/Atlantic), the multigenerational story of an Indian family confronting love and tragedy, was a New York Times bestseller and an Oprah’s Book Club pick.
Read an excerpt below and Don’t miss Tracy Smith’s interview with Abraham Verghese on “CBS Sunday Morning” on April 21!
“The Water Alliance” by Abraham Verghese
Do you prefer to listen? Audible is offering a 30-day free trial now.
1900, Travancore, South India
She is twelve years old and she will get married tomorrow morning. Mother and daughter lie on the carpet, wet cheeks pressed together.
“The saddest day in a girl’s life is her wedding day,” her mother said. “After this, God willing, it will be better.”
Soon she hears her mother’s sniffles turn into steady breathing, then into the softest snores, which in the girl’s mind seem to impose order on the scattered sounds of the night, from the wooden walls exhaling the heat of the day to the sound of the dog scratching. in the sandy yard outside.
A bird suffering from brain fever cries: Kezhekketha? Kezhekketha? Where is the east? Where is the east? She imagines the bird looking out at the clearing where the rectangular thatched roof rises above their house. He sees the lagoon in front and the stream and the rice field behind. The bird’s cry can last for hours, depriving him of sleep… but at that moment, it suddenly stops, as if a cobra had sneaked up on him. In the silence that follows, the stream sings no lullaby, just growling against the polished pebbles.
She wakes up before dawn while her mother is still sleeping. Through the window, the water from the rice field sparkles like beaten silver. On the front veranda, her father’s ornate charu kasera, or lounge chair, lies abandoned and empty. She lifts the writing palette that straddles the long wooden arms and sits down. She feels the ghostly impression of her father preserved in the weaving of the cane.
At the edge of the lagoon, four coconut trees grow sideways, brushing the water as if to smooth their reflections before straightening up towards the sky. Goodbye, lagoon. Goodbye, stream.
“Molay” her father’s only brother had said to her the day before, to her great surprise. Lately, he was no longer in the habit of using the affection molay – girl – with her. “We found a good partner for you! ” Her tone was oily, as if she were four years old, not twelve. “Your groom appreciates the fact that you come from a good family, the daughter of a priest. She knew her uncle had been trying to marry her off for a while, but she still felt it. “He was rushing to arrange this marriage. What could she say? Such matters were decided by adults. The helplessness on her face her mother embarrassed her, even though she so wanted to feel respect, her mother said: “Molay, this is no longer our home. Your uncle…” She begged, as if her daughter had protested. His words stopped, his eyes turned nervously. The lizards on the walls carried stories. “How different can life be from here? You will celebrate at Christmas, you will fast for Lent… in church on Sunday. The same Eucharist, the same coconut and coffee trees. It’s a beautiful marriage. .. It’s good means.”
Why would a man of good fortune marry a girl of little means, a girl without a dowry? What secret are they keeping from him? What is he lack? The young person, for example: he is forty years old. He already has a child. A few days before, after the marriage agent had visited, she had heard her uncle chastising her mother by saying: “What if her aunt drowned? Is this the same thing as a crazy family story? Who has heard of a family with a history of drowning? Others are always jealous of a good match and they will find something to exaggerate.
Excerpt from “The Water Alliance” © 2023 by Abraham Verghese. Reprinted with permission from publisher Grove Press, an imprint of Grove Atlantic, Inc. All rights reserved.
Get the book here:
“The Water Alliance” by Abraham Verghese
Shop locally at Librairie.org
For more information:
Grub5
