There Are Rivers in the Sky

A novel

De: Elif Shafak

Narrado por: Olivia Vinall, Elif Shafak

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.”

Fascinating Middle Eastern History

Story is mesmerizing and all consuming (as are most of Shafek's novels). Told from multiple views and timelines which is usually not a positive thing for me but this novel is spot on from the first paragraph. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good read or listen - Elif Shafek is an extraordinary storyteller!

Beautiful interwoven characters

The story mixes historic and current events, creating a very personal account of people impacted by conflict and power in the Middle East. The story is beautifully written with wonderfully interesting characters.

Exceptional research, flowing narrative, masterful

Extraordinary artistry, exceptional research, humane and arresting story. Ancient rivers modern lives. The ebb and flow of Mesopotamia’s lives

Great story. Elegant language.

I often read fiction for the story being told. The language and style of writing is my motivator in other books. This novel elegantly blended both story and language so beautifully. That combined with the history and various cultures included made this book a favorite.

Well researched

Incredible amounts of research went into this book! That’s the best part!

It was a little repetitive as the author’s weaving together of all the characters is overdone & the dialogue was really unrealistic.