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Cover of The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese

Book · Historical fiction

The Covenant of Water

by Abraham Verghese

Page count, estimated reading time and reading quiz: everything to know before you start The Covenant of Water, and the Vread challenge to get to the end.

Pages
736
Reading time
≈ 13 h 20 min
Checkpoints
23
Genre
Historical
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Free on iPhone and Android.

How long does it take to read The Covenant of Water?

At 736 pages, The Covenant of Water is a doorstopper. Expect about 13 hours 20 minutes of reading to finish it, based on 250 words per page and an average reading speed of 230 words per minute. A fast reader will go quicker; a careful read (or reading in a second language) will take longer.

At 30 minutes a day, that is about 27 days of reading. At the median pace of Vread readers, 72 pages per reading day, it takes 11 reading days. For a book of this length (600 pages or more), Vread readers who finish it take a median of 6.4 days between the first and the last checkpoint (Vread Reading Barometer 2026).

Reading days to finish it
30 minutes a day27 days
Vread median pace (72 pp./day)11 days

Estimates; see the method at the bottom of the page.

Prove you read it

The Vread challenge: 23 checkpoints

  1. Checkpoint 1, page 32
  2. Checkpoint 2, page 64
  3. Checkpoint 3, page 96
  4. Checkpoint 4, page 128
  5. Checkpoint 5, page 160
  6. Checkpoint 6, page 192
  7. Checkpoint 7, page 224
  8. Checkpoint 8, page 256
  9. Checkpoint 9, page 288
  10. Checkpoint 10, page 320
  11. Checkpoint 11, page 352
  12. Checkpoint 12, page 384
  13. Checkpoint 13, page 416
  14. Checkpoint 14, page 448
  15. Checkpoint 15, page 480
  16. Checkpoint 16, page 512
  17. Checkpoint 17, page 544
  18. Checkpoint 18, page 576
  19. Checkpoint 19, page 608
  20. Checkpoint 20, page 640
  21. Checkpoint 21, page 672
  22. Checkpoint 22, page 704
  23. Checkpoint 23, page 736

In Vread, The Covenant of Water is split into 23 checkpoints, one every 32 pages or so. At each checkpoint, a question covers the passage you have just read: a correct answer validates the step, and your progress moves forward like a training plan.

The challenge: validate all 23 checkpoints through to the last page. No giant quiz at the end, no summary to copy out: short questions along the way that prove the book was actually read. It also works as a reading quiz to check your understanding before a test.

Also available in French on Vread.

Illustrative example

Checkpoint 1/23pp. 1–32

What a checkpoint looks like

A short, precise question about the pages you have just read: a character, a place, a choice.

The answer is in the text: reply in the app.

This is not a question from The Covenant of Water: to avoid spoilers, the real questions stay in the app.

Answer in the app, one checkpoint at a time.

Summary, quiz, reviews: frequently asked questions

How many pages is The Covenant of Water?
The edition listed on Vread has 736 pages. The exact count varies by edition (paperback, hardback, ebook).
How long does it take to read The Covenant of Water?
About 13 hours 20 minutes of reading, or 27 days at 30 minutes a day.
Is there a quiz on The Covenant of Water?
Yes: the Vread app has 23 reading questions on The Covenant of Water, one per checkpoint, unlocked as you read.
Where can I find a summary of The Covenant of Water?
Vread does not publish summaries: the app supports reading the book itself, part by part. Checkpoint questions cover what you have just read, which makes them a good way to check you did not miss anything.

Read The Covenant of Water with Vread

Add the book to your library, read at your own pace in whatever format you use, and validate each checkpoint. Vread is free on iPhone and Android.

Take the challenge

Written by Vread from its catalogue data (page count of the listed edition, checkpoints, ratings aggregated from 10 ratings). No summary or publisher text is reproduced. Reading times are estimates; see the method in the Vread Reading Barometer (in French).