715 pages! Yes, I was a little intimidated by the book’s size at first, but boy what a book! Worth every minute spent. About doctorship as vocation, artistry, ambitions and sacrifice, life choices, addiction, acceptance and so much more!

Developed, deep characters and destinies. Exciting and calming at the same time. Very rich language too, had to turn to the translators many times.

And despite the fact that it is written by a male author, it often feels like a fairly strong female perspective.
Highly recommended! ( )

I was absolutely caught up in this book from beginning to end. When I think of religion in India I really don't think of Christianity. They form only 2% of the population (as opposed to Hindus at 79% and Muslims at 15%) but that is still millions of people. Verghese knows this population well as his parents were Christians from Kerala, India.

This book covers 3 generations of a family of Orthodox Saint Thomas Christians starting in 1900 when a twelve year old girl, Mariamma, is married to an older farmer, Big Appachan, whose wife died, leaving him with one son, JoJo. JoJo hates being bathed and his father refuses to travel by boat. Mariamma learns that each generation of this family has someone who died by drowning. They refer to it as "The Condition".Tragedy strikes this family when JoJo drowns in an irrigation ditch. Marriamma is distraught because she came to love JoJo as if he was her own child. Despite this death and the difference in their ages, Marriamma and Big Appachan grow to love each other and have two children. The second, a son called Philipose, seems to have inherited the condition. Philipose becomes a writer and he marries a gifted artist Elsie who made him promise she could continue to do her art after marriage. Philipose loves Elsie but forgets his promises to her creating tension. Their son, Ninan, dies while still young and Elsie leaves Philipose. She returns when Marriamma begs her to come back and because of flooding she is confined to the farm for some time. During this time she gives birth to a daughter who is also named Marriamma. Shortly after her birth Elsie goes down to the river to bathe and disappears. Philipose, who had become an opium addict when Elsie left, goes straight and raises Marriamma with his mother's help. When she grows up Marriamma becomes a doctor and helps to solve the mystery of The Condition.

There is another thread to this novel involving a Scottish doctor called Digby Kilgore who has come out to India to work for the Indian Medical Service when he was unable to get work in Scotland because he was Catholic. Digby answers to Dr. Arnold who is lazy and even worse, incompetent. At a party at this doctor's home he meets his wife, Celeste, and the two become lovers. Celeste is killed in a fire in Digby's quarters and Digby's hands are ruined trying to save her. Digby is introduced to Dr. Rune Orqvist who runs a leprosarium close to the farm on which Marriamma and Philipose live. Dr. Orqvist is able to repair Digby's hands and he enlists a young Elsie to help him draw as physiotherapy. Digby Years later Digby takes over management of the leprosarium and he comes into contact with the young Marriamma who continues to look for answers about her family, especially her mother's disappearance.

This is just the bare bones of the book which takes in so many other issues such as the caste system, British colonialism, land rights (particularly as espoused by the Naxalites, a Communist group dedicated to improving the conditions for farm workers), religious intolerance and more. A true tour de force. ( )

One of my all time favorites. What wonderful story telling. ( )

A very long circle of life family saga that fulfills the reader by the end. Recommended. 5 stars. ( )

Family saga set in Kerala, India from the early 20th century, through the 1970's. The family story is set in the back drop of social, political, and cultural change.
It's an interesting story and there is some beautiful writing, but did it really have to be over 700 pages? ( )