I really really wanted to love this book. Even after I finished it, I tried to fall in love with it. But sadly, I was never able to do it. It is just not a complete book for me to fall in love with. Abraham Verghese does make a great attempt and somewhere in between, I started wondering if many of his ideas came from the Tamizh mega soaps that grace the TVs mid-day. It just seemed a tad melodramatic. Characters are described a little too much and characters that disappeared make appearances – a little too much drama. The book also deals a lot with medicine and I cannot take it. Too much blood, too much details but that is just be. I am sure Verghese has taken great efforts to pen down the medical procedures.

The story ironically starts in Chennai, moves to Ethiopia and then moves to US. Ironic because I live in the US, my mom is in Chennai and my dad is on assignment in Ethiopia. It was great peek into the culture there. Sister Mary Praise sets sail from India to Ethiopia to serve God. She meets Dr.Stone on the ship and they nurse each other and the ship. Dr.Stone and Sister Praise are a team, they work well in surgeries. Out of the blue, on a rather tragic day, Dr.Stone discovers Sister Praise is pregnant and in labor. He panics, Sister Praise dies and two boys conjoined in the skull arrive. Dr.Stone disappears. Dr.Hemalatha and Dr.Ghosh become the parents of Shiva and Marion.

The book traces the childhood of Shiva and Marion – alike yet different and the paths they take. The coup in Ethiopia, Dr.Ghosh in prison, the death of Dr.Ghosh, the love interests of Shiva and Marion, Marion’s departure to US and his life there. Marion’s meeting with Dr.Stone and then the unexpected reunion of the brothers and most unexpected death. The death really tore me. I do not want to add more spoilers here. But I wish Verghese did not kill the character. But I assume he wanted an unexpected twist and I want my stories with a happy ending.

I cannot explain the book in a few lines. You need to read it. The charachter I admired most is Dr.Hema – the mother. The one who renews her marriage contract with her husband every year, the one who adopts 2 children and loves them unconditionally, the one who fears her kids will be taken away, the one who sees her husband go to jail, says goodbye to her husband, watches a son go overseas and then watches her sons battle for life. It is almost as if she says, life goes on, you can cry, you can go crazy with grief but guess what life goes on and you need to move on. She is a strong woman and she did leave a mark on me.

It is a big book filled with medical terminology. It is not imaginative fiction. It is realistic fiction. Pick it up for some serious reading. Maybe it will be a book you love.