There Are Rivers in the Sky: A novel

I must say , I am profoundly and forever changed by this book. If I could give it a 100 stars I would. How do I begin a review ? This book checked all boxes for me for what I adore in a story. Multiple protagonists and storylines that connect beautifully that I was deeply invested in their lives , I know I will think about their characters long after I finished the book. Extensively researched and based on true horrific events , I learnt so much new history that I embarrassingly had no idea about ; the Yazidi genocide, organ trafficking, ancient Mesopotamian culture and literature , the devastating effects of urbanization on rivers and waters of the world and the deploring plight and livelihoods of people burdened by poverty and mental illness. And what can I possibly say about the exquisite poetic incredibly lyrical writing except that if you ignore to read this book , it’s truly at your own loss. Usually I don’t read for the same author twice to be open to new reading territories but Elif Shafak is definitely an exception to this rule . Cheers

This is my first novel by Elif Shafak, and for much of it I was caught in its current. The novel explores three different lives in three different historic times, interweaving and interconnecting the three main characters' shared interests in Ninevah, Mesopotamia, The Epic of Gilgamesh, cuneiform and, most importantly, water. Rivers and water play a huge role in this novel, as do culture, the socioeconomics of time and place, and the negative impact that the human race has on our ecosystems, especially rivers. Arthur is born in Victorian London in the 1800's and is christened Arthur of the Sewers and Slums. Though he lives in squalor, he has an uncanny memory and is fascinated by cuneiform and The Epic of Gilgamesh. His journey from the Thames to the Tigris is a fascinating picture of obsession and diligence. In 2018 London, Zaleekah lives in a houseboat on the Thames. She is in the midst of a divorce and feels depressed and in limbo. She was raised by her aunt and uncle after the death of her parents when she was a child. Narin is a Yazidi girl in 2014 Turkey, waiting to complete her baptism. She is persecuted because of her religion and must flee her home. The Turkish population, especially ISIS, believe that Yazidis are devil worshipers. Narin and her grandmother have the gift for finding underground water wherever it flows. Their stories and gifts are passed down from generation to generation through oral narrative. The author writes beautifully. She carefully constructs her narrative, portraying everything that occurs as being related to the first drop of water that falls on Arthur's head shortly after his birth. Every character is touched by the same water, be it mist, a snowflake, or a splash from the river. Water is the universal sustenance. Though we may not be aware, it gives us all life and meaning. The reason for a rating of 4 instead of 5 is the length of the book and my personal belief that it needed more perspicacious and effective editing. Towards the end, it dragged on and my interest waned some.

A true piece of art from one of the most gifted writers of our time. I’ve read almost all of her books and I believe each one gets even better than the last. The imagery and powerful connection she draws between the characters, their history, and the evolving natural world around them is truly beautiful.

A while back I stumbled onto the book "The Architect's Apprentice" and loved it. I read a lot of literature books, and when I come across a author I like to read all their books. I jumped ahead to this book just so I could give her a great review. Her stories seem well researched, and I guess you could say she writes historical fiction, but whenever I see a book labeled historical fiction I first think that it might be boring. Not so with this author, her stories are fascinating and her characters are ones you get to know very well. This new book is excellent and I now want to read "The epic of Gilgamesh". She brings such clarity to history, religious strife and conflicts, of which I know a lot about by reading about 100 novels from India and middle East. Casual reader do not be afraid, Its such a great read, plus I learned a lot also. Also, I suggest looking at all her other books she has written and how many good reviews she has got over her career, top notch writer!

I commend the author for her research. It was interesting and saddening to learn of the Yazidis, something that was touched on in the news back in the days of ISIS, but not fully understood. And learning a bit about Ancient Mesopatamia and the Epic of Gilgamesh was fascinating. But the concept of a water drop traversing through time is a trite and gratuitous mechanism to use, and deliberately ignores the physics of water; meaning that a drop will not stay cohesive over time. Water evaporates and becomes a gas and the molecules scatter. The chances of even two molecules (out of billions) from water drops thousands of years apart remaining together is vanishingly remote. It seems like a nitpick but just makes the the whole thing seem amateurish or something a grade-schooler would come up with. Also, the author allows no opportunity to use a water analogy to go unpunished. Water, water, water. Water this and water that. Water analogies everywhere. And even when we know it's water due to describing a river, rain or snow, the author still has to tell us that it is water. She beats us over the head with water. It's too much! I found myself rolling my eyes more and more as I read the book. The book is too long and becomes a slog. I only finished it because we were reading it in a book club. And after all that effort the ending just fell completely flat. 5 stars for the research, 1 star for the story for an average of 3 stars.

like nothing i have ever read. so beautifully written it gives a gift with every page turned. so sad to come to the end. hope there is a sequel.

Oustanding book with an unforgetable story and characters.

J'aime cette auteure, je n'ai pas encore terminé de lire le livre, mais il est très facile à lire et il est intéressant du point de vue historique et écologique.

Evidently, the author conducted extensive research while writing this book, and that is undeniably impressive. However, the result feels like an overwhelming regurgitation of all that research—every fact, note, and piece of knowledge the author gathered seems to have been crammed into the book. This approach makes the reading experience, firstly, quite dull, and secondly, detrimental to the storytelling and character development. The book suffers from a lack of good editing. Much of the content on Mesopotamian history is repetitive and, frankly, boring. By the end, I found myself increasingly irritated by yet another story about water this, goddess that, Gilgamesh this, and Gilgamesh that, all lacking depth or purpose. The same artifacts—clay tablets, Lamassu, book on Nineveh etc.—pop up relentlessly in nearly every paragraph. I get it: clay tablets and Lamassu are significant. But must every character encounter them, dream about them, love them, own them, dig them up, or draw them? By the book’s conclusion, I half expected a Lamassu to be served at Uncle Malik’s dinner on a clay tablet. The characters are underdeveloped and feel two-dimensional, serving primarily as placeholders for the barrage of research, facts, and stories crammed into the pages. There’s little room for the characters to breathe or come alive. Only Arthur offers any meaningful insight into his life, his experiences, and his motivations. The rest are bland and, at times, outright annoying (which feels harsh to say, given the tragedy of Narim’s life). They offer little in terms of thoughts, dialogue, or purpose. Zalikah gets up, eats breakfast, looks out the window, runs, and is depressed. Narim watches flies and eats food lovingly prepared by her grandmother while we’re reminded for the hundredth time that they are healers despised by others. I understood that the first time—no need for endless repetition. The King of Nineveh makes a fleeting, meaningless appearance with no insight into his story. Most characters are impossibly virtuous, so saintly and tragic that it becomes grating. There’s also little connection between them. The shared elements—the drop of water, the Lamassu, clay tablets, lapis lazuli, and the recurring book—feel contrived and, frankly, unbelievable. Then there’s the book’s central premise—the drop of water—which is absurd. A single drop of water doesn’t travel through space and time. A drop contains about 1,670,000,000,000,000,000,000 molecules, which will never come together again in the same way. The concept tying the characters with a drop of water is, quite honestly, nonsense. Other inconsistencies should have been caught by a good editor. For example, milk dripping from newborn Arthur is biologically implausible—he would have drunk a few drops of colostrum at most. Baking biscuits in the oven for 40 minutes? That suggests the author hasn’t baked anything herself. And an infant remembering their own birth? Not possible, no matter how genius or savant the baby might be. The book is chaotic. The extensive research would have been better left in the background, allowing more focus on the characters and their stories. Narim’s tragic history takes 200 pages of flower-smelling and water-pondering to unfold, but the actual tragedy is presented in just a few pages. What a lost opportunity. Zalikah and her friend contribute little beyond drinking lavender coffee (mentioned at least five times), drawing Lamassu, tatooing ancient symbols and baking cakes—not enough to sustain good literature. Malik’s family is barely fleshed out, and we learn nothing meaningful about the King or the everyday lives of Nineveh’s people. Leila seems erratic and one-dimensional, defined only by sleepwalking and divining. What truly binds these characters together? The answer, it seems, is nothing substantial. In summary, this book felt like an over-researched, sprawling collection of facts that ultimately amounted to very little.

wow, I loved it from start to finish. Thank you for your great story although fictional it is based on salient facts that really bring it alive.

As a huge fan of Elif Shafak, i was thrilled to find her latest novel here on Amazon. The book arrived faster than the proposed date.