"Spanning the years 1900 to 1977, The Covenant of Water is set in Kerala, on South India's Malabar Coast, and follows three generations of a family that suffers a peculiar affliction: in every generation, at least one person dies by drowning--and in Kerala, water is everywhere. At the turn of the century, a twelve-year-old girl from Kerala's long-existing Christian community, grieving the death of her father, is sent by boat to her wedding, where...

This is a tale set in Kerala, in southern India, in 1969. The lives of twins Rahel and Esthappen are changed forever when their English cousin and her mother arrive on a Christmas visit. The story unfolds with foreboding and takes on big themes like love, madness, hope and joy.