6.3 Abraham Verghese: A Saga Through Kerala's Backwaters

Published: Jan. 23, 2024, 12:30 p.m.

Picture this: Kerala, a family that suffers a strange hereditary affliction- and everywhere they look is the very thing that could kill them.

In this episode Tara talks to Abraham Verghese about his bestselling book 'The Covenant of Water'. The book is set in the Malabar Coast of Kerala and follows three generations of a family where, in every generation, at least one person dies by drowning.\xa0

Abraham talks about how his book was loosely inspired by his mother's 120-paged, illustrated depiction of her childhood, his experience in medicine, and how he always carries a pocketful of knowledge about rare diseases!

Join us as we find out why this was Oprah's book club pick and why she simply did not want the book to end!

Books and authors mentioned in this episode:
God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy
The Better Man - Anita Nair
The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Love Songs of W. E. B. Du Bois - Honor\xe9e Fanonne Jeffers
Master and Commander - Patrick O\u2019Brian






\u2018Books and Beyond with Bound\u2019 is the podcast where Tara Khandelwal and Michelle D\u2019costa uncover how their books reflect the realities of our lives and society today. Find out what drives India\u2019s finest authors: from personal experiences to jugaad research methods, insecurities to publishing journeys. Created by Bound, a storytelling company that helps you grow through stories. Follow us @boundindia on all social media platforms.