Verghese now is vice chair for the theory and practice of medicine at the School of Medicine at Stanford University. That tenure overlapped with his writing of “Cutting for Stone,” which was published in 2008 and eventually sold more than 1.5 million copies. Verghese, a physician and educator, served as the founding director of The Center for Medical Humanities and Ethics at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio from 2002 to 2007. More on books: San Antonio author says kids deserve the truth

She has produced movies such as “Selma” and “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” as well as TV series like “Queen Sugar” for the Oprah Winfrey Network. Remarking on the book’s 750-page length, she said she’ll forego a July book club pick so readers can devote the whole summer to “The Covenant of Water.”īut that’s not all. Winfrey said she would do a podcast on the book, a first for her for a work of fiction, and would like to see it turned into a TV series.Īs “CBS This Morning” host Gayle King noted, Winfrey has the power to make that happen. I have never felt this way about a book.' “This goes on my list of Top 3 books of all time,” she said. Winfrey noted she has been reading since she was 3 years old and has a room full of first-edition novels.

This cover image released by Grove Atlantic shows 'The Covenant of Water' by Abraham Verghese, the long-awaited follow-up to Verghese’s acclaimed first novel “Cutting for Stone,” which published in 2008. Related: Larry McMurtry auction includes signed books

It also delves into family secrets and charts the advances in medicine over the book’s span, from 1900 to 1970. Ten years in the works, “The Covenant of Water” follows three generations of a South Indian family afflicted with a peculiar and deadly curse. I think this is an offering to the world.” “I came away humbled that someone could have a mastery of words the way Dr. Verghese does. I felt like I lived in a different land for a while.

Cutting for stone novel