There Are Rivers in the Sky: A novel
From the Booker Prize finalist, author of The Island of Missing Trees, an enchanting new tale about three characters living along two great rivers, all connected by a single drop of water.
"Make place for Elif Shafak on your bookshelf. Make place for her in your heart too. You won't regret it."—Arundhati Roy, winner of the Booker Prize
In the ancient city of Nineveh, on the bank of the River Tigris, King Ashurbanipal of Mesopotamia, erudite but ruthless, built a great library that would crumble with the end of his reign. From its ruins, however, emerged a poem, the Epic of Gilgamesh, that would infuse the existence of two rivers and bind together three lives.
In 1840 London, Arthur is born beside the stinking, sewage-filled River Thames. With an abusive, alcoholic father and a mentally ill mother, Arthur’s only chance of escaping destitution is his brilliant memory. When his gift earns him a spot as an apprentice at a leading publisher, Arthur’s world opens up far beyond the slums, and one book in particular catches his interest: Nineveh and Its Remains.
In 2014 Turkey, Narin, a ten-year-old Yazidi girl, is diagnosed with a rare disorder that will soon cause her to go deaf. Before that happens, her grandmother is determined to baptize her in a sacred Iraqi temple. But with the rising presence of ISIS and the destruction of the family’s ancestral lands along the Tigris, Narin is running out of time.
In 2018 London, the newly divorced Zaleekah, a hydrologist, moves into a houseboat on the Thames to escape her husband. Orphaned and raised by her wealthy uncle, Zaleekah had made the decision to take her own life in one month, until a curious book about her homeland changes everything.
A dazzling feat of storytelling, There Are Rivers in the Sky entwines these outsiders with a single drop of water, a drop which remanifests across the centuries. Both a source of life and harbinger of death, rivers—the Tigris and the Thames—transcend history, transcend fate: “Water remembers. It is humans who forget.”
"Make place for Elif Shafak on your bookshelf. Make place for her in your heart too. You won't regret it."—Arundhati Roy, winner of the Booker Prize
In the ancient city of Nineveh, on the bank of the River Tigris, King Ashurbanipal of Mesopotamia, erudite but ruthless, built a great library that would crumble with the end of his reign. From its ruins, however, emerged a poem, the Epic of Gilgamesh, that would infuse the existence of two rivers and bind together three lives.
In 1840 London, Arthur is born beside the stinking, sewage-filled River Thames. With an abusive, alcoholic father and a mentally ill mother, Arthur’s only chance of escaping destitution is his brilliant memory. When his gift earns him a spot as an apprentice at a leading publisher, Arthur’s world opens up far beyond the slums, and one book in particular catches his interest: Nineveh and Its Remains.
In 2014 Turkey, Narin, a ten-year-old Yazidi girl, is diagnosed with a rare disorder that will soon cause her to go deaf. Before that happens, her grandmother is determined to baptize her in a sacred Iraqi temple. But with the rising presence of ISIS and the destruction of the family’s ancestral lands along the Tigris, Narin is running out of time.
In 2018 London, the newly divorced Zaleekah, a hydrologist, moves into a houseboat on the Thames to escape her husband. Orphaned and raised by her wealthy uncle, Zaleekah had made the decision to take her own life in one month, until a curious book about her homeland changes everything.
A dazzling feat of storytelling, There Are Rivers in the Sky entwines these outsiders with a single drop of water, a drop which remanifests across the centuries. Both a source of life and harbinger of death, rivers—the Tigris and the Thames—transcend history, transcend fate: “Water remembers. It is humans who forget.”
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Readers say *There Are Rivers in the Sky* by Elif Shafak is a richly woven, beautifully written novel connecting three characters across time and plac...
This was an audiobook read for me with a great narrator who felt authentic. This book weaves the tales of several individuals across centuries by binding their stories using a single drop of water as a symbol. I learned so much about ancient Mesopotamia from this book as well as some of the atrocities committed in modern-day Syria, aming other things. This narrative historical fiction is a must-read for our generation, and I suspect many generations to come.
There are three main characters in this book. Arthur, a young boy growing up in poverty in 1840s England, who eventually comes to work at a printer's shop; Narin, a Yazidi girl who is slowly losing her hearing; and Zaleekhah, who is reeling from a bad marriage. The writing is a bit too-flowery for my taste, however the descriptions of the sights and sounds of 1840s London is well done. Arthur is a compelling character and my main focus in the reading.
The story of the massacre of the Yazidis in 2014 is jaw-dropping. Eventually all their stories intersect, but it is a sad tale. Well written, but a bit depressing. I didn't get the water motif.
The story of the massacre of the Yazidis in 2014 is jaw-dropping. Eventually all their stories intersect, but it is a sad tale. Well written, but a bit depressing. I didn't get the water motif.
In 2023 my very favorite book was “The Convenent of Water”. The book follows a family over several generations and their relationship to nature, and each other, and interweaves Indian and British politics through out the story. I was compelled to learn about the time period and history, the region and became very attached to the characters and family. I enjoyed every moment of the story and was sad when it ended and I had to move on.
“There are Rivers in the Sky” begins in Mesopotamia in 660 BCE. We start our story with the King who is the protector of stories and poems gathered in libraries under his protection. He believes the Gods have decreed him as the protector of ancient scrolls and clay tablets which preserves the history, art, and everyday societal transactions of his people and ancestors. Mesopotamia is the region between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, and is one of the first literate and urban societies.
Our story follows a single drop of water and its journey from the king to three other stories in three different timelines, two which are colinear and modern. Our characters live in Modern Turkey and Iraq, and London.
I found it a slow start and wasn’t initially compelled to continue. I have a 100 page rule and by the time I reached page 100, I was interested. As in many “timeline switching” stories, I found myself disappointed when a chapter ended and we were in a new timeline with a different character but eventually fell into the rhythm of the story of each and the connections eventually explored.
This book is not a light read. Nor is it a joyful story. It explores genocide, racism, human trafficking, poverty, imperialism, classism, adoption, immigration issues, and other heavy duty issues. I often am unsure how I feel about a book until long after I close it. I recommend reading the author’s notes. She addresses her motivation and research into how she weaves these characters and stories together.
This story will remain with me, which is a sign of a good book for me. I felt compelled to learn about the places and circumstances of the story and characters, and feel the time spent was well worth it. And now I do feel sad - not so much for having to leave the people and places but for what so many humans endure in this lifetime. 4.2/5.
An incredibly well researched novel and beautifully written, the words of which leap off the pages in this rich tapestry, weaving its way through time, continents and characters. The novel follows three main characters; Arthur (born on the banks of the Thames in 1840 and raised in the slums of London), Narin (a young southeastern Turkish girl living near the Tigris River in 2014) and Zaleekah a 30 something hydrologist, recently separated from her husband and living on a houseboat on the Thames. A single drop of water and the ancient text of the Epic of Gilgamesh (thought to be the first poem ever written down) are the connections between these characters, spanning time and moving between Ancient Mesopotamia, London, Turkey and Iraq. Amidst the multi-storylines, Elif Shafak works to get some key environmental, humanitarian and political messages across to the reader. I felt she tried to explore a few too many themes in one book; imperialism, religious prejudice, humans impact on climate change, abuse and neglect of water resources, persecution of the Yazidi people, to name a few. This resulted in an epic 500-page novel and at times I found it quite draining trying to keep up with the character cycling throughout it all. In the last part of the book, the intertwining of the three main characters is revealed in a mutually sad and satisfying ending. Full of thought-provoking quotes, this was one of my favourites
“Water remembers, it is humans who forget”.
Took a long time to get into it but glad I read it. An important book about the history of Mesopotamia and links to the modern world.
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