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.”

Masterful

Lyrical, historically accurate, painstakingly researched, beautifully narrated. One of my favorite books in the last five years

Every single thing

It open my eyes to so much suffering to women. I loved this book, it’s amazing

Love historical fiction!!

I’m fascinated by how great authors can intersect time and places and incorporate history to weave an engaging story. Loved this book and learned a bit more about the Yazidi community and their history

Beautifully written with diverse, complex characters

I love everything about this book. The story has elements that cross both centuries and decades, with characters who are human and relatable. The performance was beautiful as well. Great book.

One of the best books I've listened to in a long time.

This is a beautiful, disturbing, and yet hopeful story of three unrelated individuals. But they are very related because of a few drops of water. I loved this book. Narration was pitch perfect. Highly recommend.

Heavy but beautiful

Human stories moving and compelling. The first chapters were hard to get into but I enjoyed more and more as book went on

Beautiful Prose

This novel is beautiful. The interconnecting stories are woven together so perfectly. I feel lucky to have listened to it. The narrator did an amazing job. I will definitely be looking into more books by this author.

My favorite of all her books

This is my favorite of all her books by far. Please read all the way to the end along with her comments.

The gradual and seemingly natural blending of the individual characters over time.

Loved this book—rich histories, well-researched and haunting. The author treats her characters, their stories and cultures with tremendous respect and sensitivity. It was a pleasure to read, learn and listen. The narrator’s voice is wonderful!

Lyrically beautiful

Every word is perfect and the characters are beloved. The ending is beautiful and fulfilling. Time shifts can be disconcerting, but this one is beautifully intertwined.