Sep 12

Sep 12 There Are Rivers in the Sky

About the book

Author: Elif Shafak
Publisher: Knopf

More info:
The StoryGraph | Goodreads
Note: Content and trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the review.

Buy and support indie bookstores (+ I earn a small commission):
Bookshop.org (print) | Libro.fm (audio)

My Review

Elif Shafak is one of my favorite authors writing today — she combines lush, gorgeous storytelling with incredible research and a drop of the fantastic to give us a reading experience like no one else. And There Are Rivers in the Sky is no exception. In fact, it’s my favorite of her novels to date.

This book gives us 4 timelines along 2 historic rivers, the Tigris and the Thames: King Ashurbanipal in Ninevah in the 7th century BC, Arthur in London in the 1800s, Narin in Turkey/Iraq in 2014, and Zaleekah in London in 2018. And all of them are connected by a single drop of water.

This novel is impeccably researched. The audiobook was gorgeously performed, and it was easy to follow that way. That said, as immersive and transportative as it is, it’s also acute — there’s a good deal of pain here. Arthur is impoverished and abused; Narin’s family finds themselves in grave, violent danger; Zaleekah is navigating divorce; and we are given an intimate look at the genocide and persecution of the Yazidi.

I’m a sucker for a book with multiple connected timelines across history, and with Shafak at the helm, there was no way I wasn’t going to love this book. Pick it up — I bet you’ll love it, too.