CUTTING FOR STONE by Abraham Verghese (fic)

Abraham Verghese was born in Ethiopia, studied medicine in the United States and currently teaches at Stanford University.  Only a surgeon could have written such a realistic novel about doctors with such precise detail.  While most of the story takes place in Addis Ababa, there is also an excellent depiction of surgery residency in an inner-city New York teaching hospital.
Verghese's characters are well drawn, though the males are more rounded than the females of the story.  As each character is introduced, the reader realizes that each has a story of their own, which is followed throughout the book.  The characters may disappear for a while, but in the end they reappear never losing their connection with Missing Hospital in Addis Ababa and with each other. 
The novel tells the story of co-joined twins boys(separated at birth), born in the 1950s.  We follow them through their youth and adulthood as they live through a stormy period of Ethiopia's history.  The author takes some liberties with the time frame of the story, but the historical events are essentially accurate. During this time, Eritrea was in revolt for independence from Ethiopia and Emperor Haile Selassie was deposed by a dictator who ruled a corrupt state.  Missing Hospital remained a stable base for the sick and poor to be treated and plays a major role in the novel. All the characters' stories take place in and around this hospital which acts a vehicle for moving the story forward. 
The twins, Marion and Shiva Stone and their childhood companion, Genet have their lives and future shaped by the hospital.  The boys lost their mother at birth (a young Indian nun, who has an interesting story of her own), and their father Dr. Thomas Stone (an Englishman raised in India) left them behind in his grief.  They were raised with love by two doctors who marry and adopt the twins.  Kalpana Hemlatha, known as Hema and Abhi Ghosh are caring and strong characters,which we discover as their stories are revealed. Ghosh is the main influence in the life of the boys.
The story is mainly told through the eyes of Marion Stone who grows up to become a surgeon who completes his residency in the New York City of 1979.  The plot has so many intertwined stories that it is difficult to do it justice here.  The author, Dr. Verghese, tells a good story with accurate attention to medical procedures.  It is a book that will keep the reader involved and interested.