Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

 

My aunt Marcia recommended Cutting for Stone but it wasn't until my library book club decided on this title that I ended up reading it.  Why did I wait? I immediately told my husband he needed to read it. But he didn't right away either and then when he did he was as awash with awe as I was. This is a gorgeous picture of how our choices have lasting repercussions.

It is the story of twin Indian brothers, orphaned at birth, growing up in Ethiopia at a mission hospital. Surrounded by illness and the mystery of who their parents really were, the boys grow up learning the hard lessons of death, love and the bond between brothers.

Cutting for Stone gave voice to the things that shape us and how sometimes one small thing becomes the hinge upon which the rest of our lives turn. Two brothers. One love. A ripping apart. A cutting. This is a beautiful book.