Thursday - February 24

Please note the date change: we will be meeting on Thursday the 24th of February at 7:00pm.

Abraham Verghese is both a doctor and a writer, and Cutting for Stone illustrates how organically he can combine his passions. This sweeping novel follows twins Marion and Shiva Stone. 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.

From The Washington Post: "Masterful ... Verghese’s gripping narrative moves over decades and generations from India to Ethiopia to an inner-city hospital in New York, describing the cultural and spiritual pull of these places. . . . Even with its many stories and layers, Cutting for Stone remains clear and concise."


From the Los Angeles Times: "Verghese creates this story so lovingly that it is actually possible to live within it for the brief time one spends with this book. You may never leave the chair."

If you would like to see an actual hospital in Ethiopia please watch A Walk to Beautiful. "The award winning feature-length documentary A Walk to Beautiful tells the stories of five Ethiopian women who suffer from devastating childbirth injuries and embark on a journey to reclaim their lost dignity. Rejected by their husbands and ostracized by their communities, these women are left to spend the rest of their lives in loneliness and shame. They make the choice to take the long and arduous journey to the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital in search of a cure and a new life." This film is not for the squeamish, but it is a beautiful documentary that will move you.