Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese M.D. and Abraham Verghese (2009, Unabridged, Compact Disc)

Synopsis
Twin brothers born of an illicit affair between an Indian nun and a British doctor experience love, loss, and the true healing power of medicine in this epic tale. Marion and Shiva Stone are raised as orphans at the Ethiopian mission hospital where they were born, after their mother dies during childbirth and their father vanishes. Their shared love for medicine forges a tight bond between them, but their love for Genet, a young girl at the hospital, eventually forces them apart. Marion goes to America, where he comes of age as an intern at an impoverished Bronx medical clinic, but he can never leave his past completely behind. This is the first novel from Dr. Abraham Verghese (MY OWN COUNTRY), and he weaves several detailed descriptions of unusual medical emergencies into the compelling narrative. Selected by Publishers Weekly as one of the 100 Best Books of 2009.

Key Details
Author:	Abraham Verghese, Abraham Verghese M.D.
Language:	English
Publisher:	Random House
Format:	Audio
ISBN-10:	0739382853
ISBN-13:	9780739382851

Additional Details
Narrated by:	Sunil Malhotra
Edition Description:	Unabridged

Size
Thickness:	2.2 in
Weight:	18.4 oz

Publisher's Note
A sweeping, emotionally riveting first novel–an enthralling family saga of Africa and America, doctors and patients, exile and home.

Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon at a mission hospital in Addis Ababa. Orphaned by their mother’s death in childbirth and their father’s disappearance, bound together by a preternatural connection and a shared fascination with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution. Yet it will be love, not politics–their passion for the same woman–that will tear them apart and force Marion, fresh out of medical school, to flee his homeland. He makes his way to America, finding refuge in his work as an intern at an underfunded, overcrowded New York City hospital. When the past catches up to him–nearly destroying him–Marion must entrust his life to the two men he thought he trusted least in the world: the surgeon father who abandoned him and the brother who betrayed him.

An unforgettable journey into one man’s remarkable life, and an epic story about the power, intimacy, and curious beauty of the work of healing others.

The twin sons of a secret love affair between an Indian nun and a British surgeon in Addis Ababa, Marion and Shiva Stone are orphaned by their mother's death in childbirth and father's disappearance, coming of age in an Ethiopia on the brink of revolution, bound together by a shared interest in medicine and forever divided by their love for the same woman. A first novel. Simultaneous.

Twin brothers born from a secret love affair between an Indian nun and a British surgeon in Addis Ababa, Marion and Shiva Stone come of age in an Ethiopia on the brink of revolution, where their love for the same woman drives them apart.

Industry Reviews
"Verghese bends history and coincidence to his narrative needs...creating a story much like the human bodies Marion painstakingly describes: beautiful, amazing, and a bit of a mess."
(03/09/2009)

"Verghese has written two graceful memoirs...but his wildly imaginative fictional debut is looser, bigger, even better."
(02/20/2009)

"Set against a backdrop of political and cultural dissonance, CUTTING FOR STONE is an admixture, a marvel of intimacy and sweep. In it, the reader is taken under the skin - in the operating rooms and into the lives of a Dickensian cast of characters."
(02/04/2009)

"Even with its many stories and layers, CUTTING FOR STONE remains clear and concise...I felt as though I were with these people, eating dinner with them even, feeling the hot spongy injera on my fingers as they dipped it into a spicy wot."
(02/01/2009)

"An epic tale about love, abandonment, betrayal and redemption, Abraham Verghese's first novel, CUTTING FOR STONE, is a masterpiece of traditional storytelling."
(02/01/2009)

"...Verghese's weaving of the practice of medicine into the narrative is fascinating even as the story bobs and weaves with the power and coincidences of the best 19th-century novel." (starred review)
(10/27/2008)