Cutting for Stone

OK, let me just preface by saying this book is EPIC. I got me hooked within a couple of pages like I wasn't hooked in many, many years. Cutting for stone tells a story of an Indian nun/nurse on her way to missionary job at Aden, Yemen. Travelling on the ship, she meets a British surgeon, also born and raised in India, whose final destination is set in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. Their stories become intertwined as they become work partners and lovers. She gives birth to two siamese twins and her lover escapes, no where to be found. The twins are raised by the two doctors who were friends with both mother and father of the twins. The book keeps following the life of the twins, told by one of the twins, Marion, and political instability in Ethiopia, and then across the continent. OK, so this is super epic, right?? A story about a nun and Indian doctors and Africa? I loooved it at the beginning. I was hooked to it like I wasn't in years and years. The narrative kept shifting between the characters and they were all sooo interesting and amazing. And then, in one moment, somewhere in the middle, the author got lost in his own writings and the book started to turn mellow. It was bearable to me, until some of the descriptions regarding women and sex and boys coming of age. Once again it was proven to me that I, as a woman, cannot enjoy nor understand coming of age books written down by men. In many instances the relationship and cringe and bortherline rapey. I am giving this book a 4 stars, despite it's many flaws in the last third, solely for the epicness and beautiful story telling. I also have to appreciate the medical jargon and the time Verghese had to spend analyzing African history for the book to be historically accurate.