THE COVENANT OF WATER, by Abraham VergheseAbraham Verghese occupies a curious place in the modern literary landscape. A doctor who decided midcareer to train at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, he has gone on to achieve distinction in both fields. His last novel, “Cutting for Stone,” spent more than two years on this newspaper’s best-seller list. By projecting his own best self, he hopes to coax out the best selves of others. The lack of ill intent or even ambivalence among the book’s many heroes can become cloying.

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