Abscond

by Abraham Verghese

Fate challenges a boy to find his place in the world in a powerful short story from Abraham Verghese, the New York Times bestselling author of The Covenant of Water.

It’s a New Jersey summer in 1967, and thirteen-year-old Ravi Ramanathan has the makings of a tennis prodigy. His surgeon father encourages his ambition, while his mother dreams of their only child following his father’s path. Surrounded by his parents’ love, Ravi chafes a bit at their daily routines and little traditions. Then one unexpected day, everything changes. Realizing how much he took for granted, Ravi must grow up overnight and find a new role in the life of his family.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Coming Of Age, Family, Novella, Ebooks

38 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2025

About the author

Abraham Verghese, MD, MACP, is Professor for the Theory and Practice of Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Senior Associate Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine.

Born of Indian parents who were teachers in Ethiopia, he grew up near Addis Ababa and began his medical training there. When Emperor Haile Selassie was deposed, he completed his training at Madras Medical College and went to the United States for his residency as one of many foreign medical graduates. Like many others, he found only the less popular hospitals and communities open to him, an experience he described in one of his early New Yorker articles, The Cowpath to America.

From Johnson City, Tennessee, where he was a resident from 1980 to 1983, he did his fellowship at Boston University School of Medicine, working at Boston City Hospital for two years. It was here that he first saw the early signs of the HIV epidemic and later, when he returned to Johnson City as an assistant professor of medicine, he saw the second epidemic, rural AIDS, and his life took the turn for which he is most well known ? his caring for numerous AIDS patients in an era when little could be done and helping them through their early and painful deaths was often the most a physician could do.

His work with terminal patients and the insights he gained from the deep relationships he formed and the suffering he saw were intensely transformative; they became the basis for his first book, My Own Country : A Doctor's Story, written later during his years in El Paso, Texas. Such was his interest in writing that he decided to take some time away from medicine to study at the Iowa Writers Workshop at the University of Iowa, where he earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in 1991. Since then, his writing has appeared in The New Yorker, Texas Monthly, Atlantic, The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, Granta, Forbes.com, and The Wall Street Journal, among others.

Following Iowa, he became professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Texas Tech Health Sciences Center in El Paso, Texas, where he lived for the next 11 years. In addition to writing his first book, which was one of five chosen as Best Book of the Year by Time magazine and later made into a Mira Nair movie, he also wrote a second best-selling book, The Tennis Partner : A Story of Friendship and Loss, about his friend and tennis partner?s struggle with addiction. This was a New York Times' Notable Book.

Reviews

[Brady Lockerby]

this was the amazon first reads novella add on this month! only 38 pages so no rating, but i always love learning something new about a different culture than mine!

[Angela M · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully written short story that portrays through grief how meaningful the little moments of seeing the beauty of the sky, the sun through the trees are. What it means to savor the special moments of connection over a shared thought, a laugh , a smile a laugh helps a young boy become a man.

[Terrie Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's summertime 1967 in New Jersey, where 13-year-old Ravi lives with his father, a surgeon, and his mother, who wishes for her son to follow in her husband's footsteps. Ravi dreams of a future in tennis, which his father encourages, and not to partake in the traditions of his Indian heritage. After a carefree afternoon spent with his BFF Billy, Ravi returns home to find his life suddenly and unexpectedly turned upside down...

Abscond is my first experience with Dr. Verghese's writing, and I found it thoughtful and timely. Although it's only a glimpse at this family, you quickly understand how much these parents love their only child, and likewise. I enjoyed watching Ravi tunnel his way through his challenges, big and small, and I love how his kindness always shows through.

An immersion read, the Kindle copy is paired with the audiobook narrated by Fajer Al-Kaisi, whose voicing skills are perfect for this story.

Abscond is a coming-of-age story that examines how a tragedy alters family dynamics, voices the challenge and clash of cultural traditions in modernity, and stresses the value of creating relationships outside the family unit for support.

I must admit, though, I'm left with wanting more...

3.75⭐

[Casey Reads 🌸 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn’t bad, just wasn’t anything special in my opinion. There’s not much I can say as the book is so short I would spoil the whole story. I just personally felt that this book was not as meaningful as it was trying to be.

Thank you to Amazon First Reads for the free copy.

[Srivalli (Semi-Hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars

One Liner: Good but with an open ending

1967, New Jersey

Ravi Ramanathan, a thirteen-year-old, wants to become a pro tennis player. His surgeon father encourages his ambition even as his mother wants him to follow in his father’s footsteps. Like most immigrant kids, Ravi is stuck between two worlds, ashamed and annoyed by his culture, but still a misfit. When tragedy strikes, Ravi’s life changes overnight.

The story comes in Ravi’s third-person POV with a couple of snippets from the omnipresent POV.

My Thoughts:

I know the author is known for writing big books, so when I saw a short story with his name, I was instantly curious. Also, it is easier to read 30 pages than 700 pages, right?

The story shows why the author is famous. It has a slow narrative filled with little details that may not be evident to people from other cultures.

Most of the side characters are not truly important, but necessary because people don’t live in isolation. The ones that matter are dealt with beautifully!

NGL, I did tear up a couple of instances. Those scenes are raw with emotions, but also have a kind of finesse that comes when the writer has good control over the narration.

The story doesn’t end abruptly, but also has a huge open ending. In a way, the ending makes sense. I can see it. At the same time, I also wish for at least another page or two dealing with what would be an interesting and important conversation. So, this is a slice-of-life story with quite a few questions and no answers.

To summarize, Abscond is a heavier story with a deliberately slow narrative and an open ending. Trigger warning for parental death, spousal death, grief, and mourning.

Thank you, NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories, for the eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

#NetGalley #Abscond

[Jaidee · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.2 "touching yet rather expected and contrived" stars !!!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and Amazon Original Stories for an ecopy. This is released today July 1, 2025. I am providing an honest review.

I found myself teary and touched while grappling with a fair bit of frustration. The author can write some beautiful and vivid sentences to support a life transition of a 13 year old boy. He however gets both teachy and preachy which detracts (for this reader anyway) the emotional impact that this narrative might impart. I sort of felt a feeling of nostalgia but also some disappointment that such a talented author would rather blatantly tell a concrete story rather then let an educated reader interpret. The story becomes much more believable (and palatable) if you see this through a memory prism of an adult's eyes rather than something that is occurring currently. No thirteen year old boy has this degree of wisdom and maturity. Sort of like a Wonder Years vibe !

I will be curious to see how I react to a novel written by this author as I have The Covenant of Water on my tbr.

[Phrynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short story from Amazon Original.

Abscond is beautifully written and very sad. Also much too short! I wanted a resolution to the issue between Ravi and his mother about his future especially now that the peace maker is no longer there to smooth things over.

So although I very much enjoyed what was there I guess I just wanted more.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC for review. Published July 1, 2025.

5 stars

I don’t know that I should have expected anything other than a five star short story experience from Dr. Verghese. This Amazon short (I know there are many, MANY problems with Amazon, but I do love these short story bundle from great writers they put out.) this wonderful story is about a family of three Indian Americans, a father, a surgeon, a mother, who stays at home, and a son, a teenager who loves tennis and thinks he could make a go of it but also feel pressure from his mother to become a surgeon like his dad. A heartbreaking but ultimately beautiful story.

[Maren’s Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Covenant of Water is one of the best books I have ever read, so it should come as no surprise that I am always eager to get my hands on anything Abraham Verghese writes. While this is indeed a short story, coming in at under 20 pages, it sure packs a powerful punch.

Told from the perspective of a boy on the verge of manhood, living the summer of his life and eager to pursue his dreams of becoming a tennis star even at the expense of familial objections, we witness just how quickly life can change through his innocent eyes. This story deals heavily with grief and loss and how an entire life can be uprooted in an instant, but also how the ending, in some ways, is also a beginning. And as is always the case, Verghese’s characters are so lifelike, you can almost reach out and touch them. A terrific read from start to finish.

Thank you Amazon Publishing for the advanced copy.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

From an Amazon original series, this short story written by the author of one of my favorite novels “Cutting for Stone.
A story about love, loss and grief and then finding a bit of light.

[Wendy Jonson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! So good, but so sad. 4.5 stars!

[Linda Galella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amazon First Reads May 2025


Some authors are just not suited for short form fiction and Abraham Verghese is one of them, IMO.

Ravi is 13 years old and he’s the only child of wealthy Indian immigrants. Dad’s a surgeon and mom is a traditional wife and mother with all the attendant expectations for her first generation son who has other ideas…

Winning Wimbledon is Ravi’s dream - NOT being the doctor his mother wants him to be. When an unexpected tragic event alters the course of Ravi’s life, it was abundantly clear that the remaining page count in this tiny tome would be woefully inadequate for telling the rest of this story.

Verghese doesn’t do much by way of developing the few characters that are in the story. Unless you are part of an Indian family, I suspect the traditions and reactions will be unfamiliar. Unfortunately, the heart of this story is all about relationships and how this tragedy has changed Ravi, his family and his friends but there’s no foundation or support.

While it was meant to be poignant and heartfelt, the ending rang hollow and convenient to me. Just because the page count is brief that isn’t an excuse to short cut the resolutions for characters who are growing or changing due to a significant event.

2.5 stars rounded up because of previous excellence in very long form fiction📚

[Greta Samuelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short story by one of my favorite authors.

Abraham Verghese wrote Cutting for Stone and Covenant of Water, both of which are wonderful epic, multigenerational stories that you should consider reading if you have not already.

I’m not the biggest fan of short stories because they don’t really engulf me the way a novel does but knowing that he was the writer I gave it a shot.

Ravi, a young boy of 13 lives in New Jersey with his parents, a successful surgeon and a stay at home mom.

An unexpected and tragic loss occurs within their family and Rami is left to think about everything in a different way.

I will give this 4 stars as a short sorry but I still prefer the epic family sagas.

[Karen J · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2

A very powerful short story expressing how life can change in a heartbeat.

[Corinna ⚓️ Reading At Sea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Abscond had potential, but unfortunately it didn’t land the way I hoped. I couldn’t connect with the characters, which made it hard to stay emotionally invested. The story felt surface-level, and I kept waiting for some kind of deeper meaning or self-discovery that never really came.

What disappointed me most was that the synopsis led me to expect something different — something more introspective or layered. Instead, it felt like the story skimmed over what could have been powerful themes.

It’s a quick read, but ultimately, it just didn’t deliver what I was looking for.

[John Gilbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful short story about death. 5 stars.

[Kasa Cotugno · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written heartbreaker.

[Bren fall in love with the sea. · Rating 2 out of 5]

“He was depressed to think that summer was nearly over. It was like having to leave the theater halfway through a wonderful movie.”
― Abraham Verghese, Abscond

It’s all subjective really.

Whether one likes a book is entirely due to someone’s taste it doesn’t mean that the book was not good.

And I must admit, I really was not crazy about Abscond .

It’s not that the writing was not terrific because it was. It’s not that the characters weren’t interesting because they were.

It’s not that the story was not enriching because it was

It was simply too depressing for me. If I’m going to be honest, and I’m coming from a place of deep honesty, there is no other reason . I have to be in the mood for stories such as this

Ravi’s native American family is quite close-knit and his dad is a surgeon. His family would love it if he followed in his father‘s footsteps, but he might want to be a champion tennis player. That’s where his true passion seem to lie. This story takes place in the 60s.


Who can’t relate to the theme of doing what makes one happy versus satisfying the expectations of other people particularly family members? There is a lot to relate to in this.

Sometimes when I’m writing a review for a book I don’t like if it’s popular, I say, I feel almost guilty for not liking it, and this one seems to be very popular. The author wrote a book called the Covenant of water, which is on my radar though I have not yet read it but I heard it’s a masterpiece.


I’m going to have to use spoilers now.

SPOILERS

There is a death of one of the family members. All of a sudden, the tone is a book takes a dramatic, turn and bear in mind. This is a short story, so there isn’t a lot of time to really sketch in the plot details.

I’ve read thousands of dark books. But usually I can prepare myself. I didn’t really know a whole lot of what the plot would be here. I have no problem with the writing whatsoever, but I can’t really say my enjoyment ability of the story was all that much

I just felt too much with being done in such a short time table. The story was almost over before it begun, and we had such serious things that were being pondered that it’s really hard to do that in such a short window of time.

Plus, there’s the subject matter itself which was quite dark. I’m not quite sure what I expected. I read a lot of dark books but when occasionally I indulge in a short story, I guess I kind of like more upbeat ones cause they’re kind of a break for me from the long 300 and and 400 page book.


I would never call this bad and I see the love that the story has so I encourage you if you’re reading this review to read all the four and five star reviews of which there are so very many.

For me, it was the wrong story at the wrong time. But I still intend to try some of the authors other works in terms of full of books and I’m looking forward to doing so.

[George Stenger · Rating 3 out of 5]

An Amazon prime free bonus short story. A family drama about a teenage boy and his parents when tragedy strikes.

The author is one of my favorites, but the short story format limited his effectiveness.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful and poignant! Full RTC!!

[Tammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars.

[Wendy Hart · Rating 5 out of 5]

This talented storyteller packs a punch with this remarkable short story. The story revolves around the struggles of an Indian-American young man as he navigates the two cultures that shape his life. It also deals with loss and grief. The story is absorbing and contains a generous amount of the author's signature, almost poetic prose.

[Kerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short story of the death of a father and how the mother and son deal with the grief. It is an audible only story narrated by Fajer Al-Kaisi. It had it moments but not particularly memorable for me. The audio was good but I find more and more now I need a print to read along with or at least refer to. Listened to it twice.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moments

Ravi is a happy young man whose main goal in life is to play tennis. He has grown tall, sometimes hitting his head in doorways.

Ravi’s father is a surgeon and his mother busily cares for them all. Then everything changes.

Abraham Verghese is a wonderful storyteller who can write a scene and your minds eye sees it in color. Five stars.

[Nancy Yager · Rating 3 out of 5]

Abscond by Abraham Verghese is a short story that falls into the historical fiction genre, but it's really more than that—it feels like a commentary on grief and loss.

I found the story moving, sad, and at times a little hard to follow, but in a way that seemed intentional—like Verghese wanted us to feel disoriented, to live inside Ravi’s head for a while and experience the confusion and ache he carries.

I will say, the story wasn’t always easy to follow. There were moments when I had to pause and reread, not because the writing wasn’t good—it absolutely was—but because the structure jumps in a way that mirrors Ravi and his mother’s fragmented emotional state.

So why did I connect with this story, even if it was difficult at times? Because it felt real. Verghese has this remarkable ability to write with empathy and insight, and he never rushes the moment. Abscond doesn’t hand you all the answers, asks you to sit with uncertainty, to wrestle with the complexities of human behavior, and grief. And sometimes that’s exactly what a good story should do. It stays with you. It lingers.

If you’re a fan of Abraham Verghese’s writing or enjoy quiet, introspective historical fiction that’s rich in emotional depth, Abscond is worth your time. It’s a sad story, yes, and not always a straightforward one, but it’s beautifully written and full of meaning. It left me with a lump in my throat and a lot to think about, which is, in my opinion, the mark of a truly memorable read.

[Olga Rudnitska · Rating 4 out of 5]

A novel about loss
❤️‍🩹

[Tania · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short and easy to get through, but nothing that really stayed with me. I didn’t dislike it, but it didn’t leave much of an impression either.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

RTC...

[Keith Book Korner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Story about family and dealing with death

[Jenna Scribbles · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful short story.