Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

In Addis Ababa twin boys are born. Their imagined lives form the basis for Verghese's 658 page novel in which he weaves plots and subplots around the twins' life in the mission hospital where they grow up. One twin is smart, studious, and conventional; the other is smart, a tinkerer, and unconventional. In spite of their differences and the painful conflicts they experience, the twins are bound in love throughout their lives. Verghese is a doctor, and medicine is a central focal point in his novel; there are many operating room scenes and interesting descriptions of diseases and treatments. Cutting for Stone is well written and interesting enough to pull the reader through all of its many, many pages.