Cutting for Stone

by Abraham Verghese  688 pages

Cutting for Stone's main focus is on Shiva and Marion Stone, twin brothers growing up in Ethiopa, but it is also an epic saga that includes the backstories of a variety of characters. We learn about their biological parents: Dr. Thomas Stone, an English physician who runs the Missing Hospital in Addis Ababa, and the late Sister Mary Joseph Praise, a nursing nun. We also meet their foster parents, neighbors, and the patients in the clinic. The novel takes place during the politically tumultous years of Hailie Selassie's rule and it includes a lot of Ethiopan culture and history. The two brothers both pursue medical careers in very different ways, and in different parts of the world. The author includes very vivid descriptions of medical procedures that might be too much for some readers. The reader will be compelled to see what happens to the vividly-described characters. There is foreshadowing of tragedy throughout that culminates in a dramatic ending.