Cutting for Stone

A Novel

By: Abraham Verghese

Narrated by: Sunil Malhotra

Length: 23 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the author of The Covenant of Water: A beautifully written, page-turning family saga of Ethiopia and America, doctors and patients, exile and home. • “Filled with mystical scenes and deeply felt characters.... Verghese is something of a magician as a novelist.” —USA Today

Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon. Orphaned by their mother’s death and their father’s disappearance, bound together by a preternatural connection and a shared fascination with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution.

Moving from Addis Ababa to New York City and back again, Cutting for Stone is an unforgettable story of love and betrayal, medicine and ordinary miracles—and two brothers whose fates are forever intertwined.

This sweeping, emotionally riveting novel that "shows how history and landscape and accidents of birth conspire to create the story of a single life" (Los Angeles Times).

©2009 Abraham Verghese (P)2009 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Abraham Verghese is a doctor, an accomplished memoirist and, as he proves in Cutting for Stone, something of a magician as a novelist. This sprawling, 50-year epic begins with a touch of alchemy: the birth of conjoined twins to an Indian nun in an Ethiopian hospital in 1954. The likely father, a British surgeon, flees upon the mother’s death, and the (now separated) baby boys are adopted by a loving Indian couple who run the hospital. Filled with mystical scenes and deeply felt characters–and opening a fascinating window onto the Third World–Cutting for Stone is an underdog and a winner. Shades of Slumdog Millionaire.”–Jocelyn McClurg, USA Today

“A novel set in Africa bears a heavy burden. The author must bring the continent home to help the reader sit in a chair and imagine vast, ancient, sorrowful, beautiful Africa. In the last decade I’ve read books narrated by characters homesick for Africa; books by or about child soldiers; books about politics; books full of splintering history.... Lush and exotic . . . richly written.”–Susan Salter Reynolds, Los Angeles Times

“Any doubts you might harbor about a 534-page first novel by a physician in his 50s will be allayed in the first few pages of this marvelous book. Abraham Verghese has written two graceful memoirs, but Cutting for Stone, his wildly imaginative fictional debut, is looser, bigger, even better.... The doctor in him sees the luminous beauty of the physician’s calling; the artist recognizes that there remain wounds no surgeon can men. ‘Where silk and steel fail, story must succeed,’ Marion muses. This one does.”–Jennifer Reese, Entertainment Weekly; Grade: A

Very long but worth it

Characters are wonderful. Loved the religious and medical terminology within excellent character development. Multiple times became teary due to level of depth of story.

Interesting story. Good narrator.

This book was not typical of the subject matter that usually interests me, but between the excellent writing and narration, I was able to picture everything so clearly and found it interesting. Some parts of the story lost its tempo, but that’s just my opinion. There were detailed medical procedures described that didn’t thrill me. Overall, I am glad to have listened to such a well written and interesting story.

Should be on Everyone’s Must Read List!

This book caught my imagination from the very beginning. The relationships were tangled but full of love.

Having loved his latest book, I had to read this book and it did not disappoint.

I loved this book, the inclusion of historical information added so much to the story! I can’t wait for another book. Loved it!

One of the best

The narrator is utterly amazing. I cannot sing his praises enough. The story is quite sensitive and the characters are portrayed with very real emotions, both good and bad.

Absolutely incredible

I loved every minute of this book. The story held me captive and I was in awe of the character development. I cried, I laughed and many incredible mysteries were answered. I highly recommend and cannot wait to read more about the author. The narrator is fantastic!

So good

Love this author, love the way he tells his stories. We are lucky to have such talent for our enjoyment.

Amazing!

Thank you to Dr. Verghese for writing this. I feel by expanding my mind it opens my heart. I highly recommend listening.

Excellent Tour de Force of fiction!

Excellent storytelling, I was enraptured by each chapter. I’m an instant fan of Abraham Verghese.

Masterful writing

Verghese’s insight and honest portrayal of inspiring characters made it hard for me to put this book down. I also appreciated the medical lessons, sharp sense of humor and his in-depth descriptions. I also read The Covenant of Water, which I also found extraordinary.