海角大神

鈥淭he Covenant of Water,鈥� the latest novel from bestselling author Abraham Verghese, delivers a magnificent saga. Bursting with myriad characters, well-braided plotlines, politics, history, faith, and geography, the story centers on a young 海角大神 girl in water-rich Kerala, India, who is married into the landowning Parambil clan. Unknown to her, the Parambil men appear to suffer from a curse 鈥� death by drowning. As the girl matures and builds a family with her much older husband, the many challenges of life in 1900s colonial India buffet the household. It鈥檚 an engrossing tale of persistence that offers much to ponder about creativity and the connectedness of life. Contributing writer Erin Douglass interviewed Mr. Verghese, who was born in India, grew up in Ethiopia, and studied medicine in multiple countries before completing his residency in the United States. He teaches at Stanford University and lives and practices in Palo Alto, California.

You describe the book鈥檚 primary setting in south India as a land shaped by water. And yet, we have the Parambil family, whose men seem to be cursed by a history of drownings. Why create a series of characters so at odds with their environment?

It鈥檚 an automatic method of generating conflict. ... You have a land where water is the giant circulatory system that connects everybody and the monsoon is the beating heart, so people learn to swim before they learn to walk. And then you have a family where individuals can鈥檛 do that. To me, that was an interesting challenge.

A standout character 鈥� a 40-year-old widower engaged to a 12-year-old bride 鈥� is revealed to be a principled, kind man. What about him surprised you while writing the book 鈥� or was he fully formed in your mind?

I don鈥檛 think any of the characters came fully formed. And I do think it was a bit risky to begin with a 12-year-old bride. In choosing a widower, I was actually embarking on the story of my great-grandmother, which was very similar. I don鈥檛 know many of the details about who he was or who she was 鈥� I didn鈥檛 know them 鈥� but she married a widower with some kids. ... He obviously died before her because he was considerably older, but, by all accounts, it was just the most beautiful, happy marriage.

You introduce 鈥減ariah鈥� figures in the novel. What do you hope readers take away from these characters and their experiences of caste, prejudice, and racial hierarchy?

My aims are always the same, which is a good story well told. Having made the decision of locating the story in the south of India and during this time period of 1900-1977, you really can鈥檛 escape issues of caste.聽

Drawing 鈥� and later sculpting and creating other art 鈥� is a healing act in the novel. What interests you about creativity?

This novel had a lot of impetus from a document that my mother left behind, trying to write out for her 5-year-old granddaughter what her world was like at 5. My mother was born in the 1920s and got her physics degree in India, just about the time of Indian independence, and there were no jobs. So, in a sari, answering an ad, she went sailing to Ethiopia as a single woman. It鈥檚 quite incredible to imagine. In her notebook, describing all these anecdotes of her childhood, she was also sketching. She was a very good artist herself. So perhaps that鈥檚 what really gave me the license for one of the characters to be an artist.

You write about a character experiencing a church service and feeling 鈥減art of the fabric instead of a thread torn from the whole.鈥� What is the place of religious ritual?

Rituals are terribly important. From an anthropological point of view, we鈥檝e come to understand that rituals 鈥� weddings and funerals and church services 鈥� they鈥檙e all always about transformation. I think that they鈥檙e terribly important to our psyches.

I began this book, in part, because I was fascinated with the rituals of my community [of St. Thomas 海角大神s]. Rituals that were a bit foreign to me in the sense that I grew up in Africa [as opposed to India], but at the same time very familiar. I was in awe of these rituals that were so deeply embedded. And they were also a mix of Hinduism with 海角大神ity. Since [adherents] were converted by St. Thomas from Hinduism, little symbolic things, like the necklace that the bride wears, is a cross but it鈥檚 on a gold tulsi leaf, which is exactly what the Hindus do. ... I love the sense that even though this was a different religion, it had all these elements from the other faith brought in.

You write, 鈥淭hings have a way of coming back when we think they鈥檙e gone forever.鈥� Would you say that鈥檚 an important theme?

Yeah, I guess I would agree if that鈥檚 what someone sees in the book!聽

My understanding of how this works is that the writer provides the words, the reader provides their imagination, and in that middle space, [readers] create this fictional movie. It鈥檚 theirs to own, and it鈥檚 very different from the next person who reads the book. So if the reader sees themes and preplanned paths that I鈥檓 supposed to have taken, I don鈥檛 dispute them, because I鈥檝e found strange things happen.