This May long weekend was rainy and cool. I didn’t mind… Much of the weekend was spent reading. The over-700 page book is due at the library on Wednesday with a waiting list of 137 people. I’m close! (On page 534 as I write this.) It’s one of those books I can’t put down and yet I don’t really want to finish.
The Covenant of Water is a sweeping story of a family across generations: tragic and beautiful, cursed and blessed, a story of struggle and hope. How is it that I read about characters in India in the early 20th century and I think so much of my own family–those around me still and those already passed?
The power of story is profound. One of the characters within this book says, “Fiction is the great lie that tells the truth about how the world lives!” Agreed. A well-writtten story may change us if we’re open. Deep within the pages of a book, we learn about others and ourselves. Deep within those pages–through distance and perspective–we discover truth.
Is there a book that has changed you? What truths have you discovered through someone else’s words? How might your students change through the books you read in class?