Lovely reading about a family.
It's interesting the evolution of events and how it ends
I loved the writing.

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book.

“Abscond” is a lovely short story focusing on Ravi and his family. Ravi is a 13 year old tennis prodigy with big dreams. His father works as a surgeon and his mother works hard to manage their home. Through the story, we learn of Ravi’s internal conflicts as he thinks about his future. We also follow his family through an ordinary day that is very ordinary, until it isn’t.

Abraham Verghese’s writing will always be one of my favorites. Some of the lines, particularly in the back half of the story made me tear up. I thought the ending of the story was a bit lacking especially in regard to the emotional aspects of the story.

Solid 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4

This short story was such a lovely read. Verghese’s writing is beautiful, he really pulls you right into the story and makes it easy to visualize everything. There are lots of thoughtful, meaningful moments throughout, and I liked how it ended. That said, I can see how some readers might want a bit more. It’s a great kind of story to cozy up with on a quiet day, tea in hand.

Thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Short Stories for the advanced copy. Abscond is available now.

Abraham Verghese has crafted a beautiful short story about the family pressures of a young Indian boy. While short, this is a full bodied story.

In my opinion, “Abscond” was a captivating short story. While I found the insights into Indian culture surrounding death to be profound and thought-provoking, I encountered moments where I felt the author’s inclusion of certain details felt inappropriate or irrelevant to the overall narrative. Consequently, I have found it challenging to assign a precise rating and have opted for a 3.5.

Several quotes from the book resonated with me and left a lasting impression. One such quote is, “His absence would always be there; the void would define the rest of Ravi’s life.” This quote encapsulates the enduring impact of loss and how it shapes an individual’s life. Another poignant quote is, “No matter how many times we ate like that together and for so many years, he always acted as if that day’s visit was special because he might never have another chance.” These quotes evoke a sense of empathy and understanding, particularly for those who have experienced the loss of close family members.

However, I found the author’s description of a woman’s body earlier in the story to be somewhat cringeworthy. This particular passage felt gratuitous and added to Ravi’s juvenile thoughts without any clear connection to the overall plot. It is worth noting that there were no further references to a sexual nature in the book.

It’s the summer of 1967 in New Jersey. Ravi Ramanathan is a 13 year old boy who lives with his Indian parents. His father is a surgeon. His mother wants him to follow in his father’s footsteps. Ravi wants to be a famous tennis player. Their family have their daily routines and traditions but that all changes when something unexpected and tragic happens. Ravi must grow up overnight and find a new role in his family.

The story is a beautifully written Amazon short story. It shows us not to take advantage of the little moments in life and how quickly life can change. It shows us how we should appreciate the special moments of our life, no matter how big or small. The story showed the transition of a 13 year old boy into a man overnight. It showed the friendship of two boys from different cultures and how family, friends and neighbors come together in tragedy.

Thank you NetGalley

This short story is about a teenage boy learning how to deal with grief and loss, and of growing up quick due to unexpected circumstances.

I had a hard time connecting to the characters much, probably because the basics of this story are a lot like many others that are done over and over. But a lot of short stories can be that way. Overall, it was still a nice story, and interesting to have small glimpses of a culture that I honestly know nothing about.

This story is that of a happy Indian family living in America. The teenage son is made to quickly learn some cultural traditions while also having to deal with grief.

I really enjoyed this beautiful short story. It encapsulates so much in just 30 pages. It had me interested from the beginning and left me with a tear in my eye.

Thank you to Netgalley for the e-ARC.

I'm not usually a short story reader but I thoroughly enjoyed Abscond. The writing was beautiful and poignant, exploring family dynamics, growing up and grief. I definitely saw elements of myself in Ravi, parental expectation can be very defining. My only complaint is that I would be loved for this to be longer, whether that be a novella or full length novel, though this is usually my issue with short stories. I would definitely read more from this author.

I did not expect this short story to take the turn that it did. Wow, what an emotional gut punch. It's a very poignant read, and for anyone who has experienced the loss of a loved one, I think the grief displayed in this book is relatable, especially Ravi's. The friendship between Ravi and Billy was very sweet, and given the time period of this story and the fact that Ravi is Indian, I was pleasantly surprised, elated, rather, to see that race did not play a role in the character's actions.

I loved this short story Abscond by Abraham Verghese. I have often toyed with the idea of picking up Verghese’s longer reads but didn’t know if it would be my cup of tea. But oh my gosh after reading Abscond I can say it definitely would be!

This story is delightfully short but poignant, there’s nothing superficial or simple here. I wanted to dive straight into another 500 pages of this story. The characters were complex yet darling, and I felt transported straight back in time.

Highly recommend!

I picked up this copy of Abscond because I was curious about Abraham Verghese's ability to draw the reader into the storyline through his writing style and the plot. This curiosity came after my partner bought me a copy of "Cutting For Stone" - so I wanted to get a feel of Verghese's footprint.

In "Abscond", Verghese is able to accurately capture the emotional terrain of grief - especially in the context of a thirteen-year-old Indian-American boy named Ravi (who is navigation an existance as "kanna" at home and "Connor" at school) - whose whole life, and the lives of those he cares about most, is upended in one single day that commences like any other. Verghese is able to portray how we often lose the importance of the mundane experiences of every single day and how the loss of that routine ruptures the rhythms of every day life.

Additionally, the importance of tradition - whether previously acknowledged - is clear in how Verghese writes about it in this novella. Whether that tradition exists in the scent of traditional foods that are cooked by Ravi's mother in their suburban kitchen, or in the quiet surgical routine that his father has practiced for years, or in newly introduced traditional and cultural expectations that come with the sudden shift in role for Ravi.

"Abscond" is a powerful meditation on how we carry loss, and how - sometimes, the unknown traditions that come with such loss, give us a new sense of purpose.

"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."

This was 30 pages.... 30 pages! How can you tell a story so impactful in so few words/pages. Insane! I can't wait to pick up Abraham Verghes' longer works.

I always love Abraham Verghese's writing! This was just a little slice-of-life story about a young Indian boy and his family, building up their characters only to have them go through grief and loss. I am only giving three stars because I felt like we really didn't have a chance to get to know the characters as well as I would have liked. Dr Verghese's gift is his masterful and lyrical storytelling, and this story just did not demonstrate that well. I enjoyed it, though.

Thanks to #NetGalley for the digital ARC of #Abscond. What a lovely short book ! The author plops you right down into his life and describes his culture with such clarity. Loved it!

Abraham Verghese’s Abscond is a quietly powerful coming-of-age short story set in 1960s New Jersey, where thirteen-year-old tennis prodigy Ravi Ramanathan faces an unexpected tragedy that upends his family and forces him into early emotional adulthood. In just a few elegant pages, Verghese captures the disorientation of grief, the weight of cultural expectations, and the subtle push-pull of immigrant identity.

With his signature precision and grace, Verghese distills complex themes - loss, ritual, masculinity, and duty - into a tender narrative that feels both intimate and expansive. The prose is clean, the emotional notes understated but resonant. Though the short format leaves a few side characters underdeveloped and the ending feels a bit sudden and too neat for the circumstances (thus the 1 star deducted), the core emotional arc still lands beautifully.

If you’re drawn to reflective, character-driven literary fiction or came to Abraham Verghese through The Covenant of Water or Cutting for Stone, this short story offers a concentrated taste of his artistry - silent, honest, and deeply felt.

Have you read any of Verghese’s work? Are you a fan of short stories that still manage to pack a punch?

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for gifting me a copy of this to review. All opinions are unedited entirely and my own.

In Abscond, Abraham Verghese delivers a poignant coming-of-age story in just 39 pages — and somehow manages to pack it with more emotional weight than many full-length novels. Set in 1967 New Jersey, the story follows Ravi Ramanathan, a 13-year-old caught between the dreams of his parents and the sudden, shattering turn of fate that forces him to grow up overnight.

Verghese’s prose is elegant yet restrained, and the emotional undercurrent of grief and identity is deeply felt. The narrative touches on legacy, cultural expectation, and the quiet ache of childhood slipping away.

My only reason for holding back a fifth star? I selfishly wanted more time with Ravi. But maybe that’s the point — sometimes life doesn’t give you the luxury of slow change. Sometimes it just…happens. And this story captures that beautifully.

A beautiful short story featuring the significance of noticing. While I had to skip a few pages surrounding the burial for personal reasons, the integration of the specificity of culture and the universal experiences of life, love, and loss were very well-balanced.

Thank you NetGalley! A short story featuring the Ramanathan family. The father is a successful surgeon, the mother is a slim, wisp of a woman who cares for her small family with love and Ravi is their tennis prodigy playing son. When tragedy strikes, family, friends and neighbors come to their aid to find a new way of being in a touching story.

I don’t really have an opinion on this one either way, but it was interesting to hear a little about different cultures and expectations, and to see how life events really impact people in other cultures.

I think if you enjoy a little coming of age during significant life events type stories, this one may be for you.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to give this short story a read!