Three people across time are united by a single drop of water and the stories of an ancient civilization. As they fight for better lives, they must contend with challenges from those closest to them as well as society. Author Elif Shafak takes readers through a thoughtful, lyrical journey thousands of years in the making in her newest novel There Are Rivers in the Sky.

King Ashurbanipal of Mesopotamia is known as one of the most literate rulers of his time. He’s also one of the most ruthless. He has tasked his underlings to search far and wide for the retelling of the Epic of Gilgamesh, even though he owns several iterations of the story already. He also doesn’t tolerate insolence, having his closest advisor and father figure executed and calling for the brutal plundering, murder, and obliteration of other people. When his own land is attacked, then, it seems like poetic justice.

Witness to all of this is a single drop of water that starts in the sky and lands on Ashurbanipal’s head. The drop of water continues its journey through centuries and hundreds of cycles of evaporation and precipitation across lands. Eventually the drop of water, now a snowflake, lands close to the Thames in London.

There, in 1840, King Arthur of the Sewers and Slums is born in a nod to irony. The name is given to Arthur by the toshers who scavenge the sludgy, dirty river for any little trinkets they can sell to earn a living. Arthur’s mother is one of them, and she goes into labor on a particularly frigid day in the water. The snowflake lands in Arthur’s mouth moments after he’s born, sealing him to a fate of wandering.

In Turkey in 2014, nine-year-old Narin, a Yazidi girl, is learning how to put a brave face on lose her hearing. Narin’s grandmother, Besma, wants Narin to be baptized according to the Yazidi tradition in Iraq. Even word of the rise of a group called ISIS, Besma is sure the gods will protect them. Narin also faces the reality that in addition to her hearing, her people will lose access to the Tigris. The river is scheduled to be dammed up, and the Yazidi will lose a major landmark of their birthright.

Back in London in 2018, Zaleekah Clarke has bought a houseboat on the Thames and decided to die there. She’s grateful to her uncle for taking her in when she became an orphan in childhood, and she’s worked hard to reach her current role as a hydrologist. But not even living on the water of a worldwide landmark is enough to coax Zaleekah out of her melancholy. A run-in with a book from her home country, however, starts to change her perspective.

Arthur, Narin, and Zaleekah are bound to one another by the precious commodity of water and the stories it tells and remembers. Arthur fights every day to rise above abject poverty and his mother’s addictions. Narin is desperate to memorize as many sounds as she can before she loses them all. Zaleekah wants someone—anyone—to help her make sense of her life. The three will find themselves changed forever by the rivers of their youth and their memories.

Author Elif Shafak arrests readers’ attention and doesn’t release anyone until the end of the book. Her turn of phrase is only equaled by the incredibly ambitious premise, tying her three main characters to a seemingly simple element. By the end of the novel, however, Shafak will have readers scrutinizing their own relationship with water.

Shafak’s sharp gaze remains trained on her characters, sharing their sorrows and few joys in alternating chapters with laser-like precision. At times, readers may find themselves drawn to one more than the other. All of them, however, have their place and make an impact.

The only fault in the book comes in the last few chapters. Shafak’s leisurely prose takes on a slightly hurried tone. Scenes that glided now rush through their resolutions, which is a shame. After the emotional journey readers will take with the three characters, urging them along makes the end feel hastily assembled as if escaping a deluge of some kind.

Still, the book is a must-read for drawing its connections between an ancient city of the past and the immediacy of the present. Those who like books that challenge them, teach them, and also entertain will enjoy this one.

There Are Rivers In the Sky is a speculative fiction novel that follows a single drop of water through the centuries, touching on the lives of the ruthless King Ashurbanipal, a ten-year-old Yazidi girl named Narin in modern-day Turkey, a brilliant but poverty-stricken young man named Arthur living in London in the 1800s, and a hydrologist named Zaleekah living in modern-day London. While each of their stories could stand on their own, together their lives are woven together to form a bigger picture of humanity and the unexpected ways each character impacts the others’ lives.

King Ashurbanipal starts out the narrative, and I loved this as a start: we as readers are able to immediately get the cultural context on some rather obscure religious beliefs in ancient Nineveh, and see the setup for the rest of the book. In addition to that context, though, the readers are able to get a direct view into his mind and his values. We never return to him as a character (which makes sense for the narration anyway given the scene’s larger historical context), but this adds an additional layer of meaning to nearly every scene throughout the book. Narin’s family still carries with them the roots of old Mesopotamian beliefs through their oral history. Arthur’s interest in Nineveh artifacts and cuneiform tablets is often laid over the things we learn about King Ashurbanipal’s interests and goals for his city. Zaleekah’s family has Turkish roots, and she befriends a tattoo artist who uses cuneiform and pieces of the Epic of Gilgamesh for her artwork. While the action itself eventually draws connections between these very different characters, the culture and mythology itself carries the weight of these connections until the action can catch up, and I think this worked extremely well, propelling me through the book even when action seemed slow.

The strongest element of this book is undoubtedly the author’s ability to build complex, interesting, dynamic characters that you can simultaneously root for and expect more from. Arthur, for example, is a white man from England who of course suffers from his own disadvantages, but I really appreciated his interactions with the Yazidi community, given his background and the time period in which he lives. He is clearly shown to be insensitive to the feelings of those around him and unaware of cultural conflicts that don’t directly affect him, but he is also shown to be passionate about his work, eager to learn, and willing to adjust his perspective when needed. I felt equally conflicted about Zaleekah – she experienced a serious trauma at a young age and has clearly felt disconnected from her family and community ever since, but because of this disconnect she keeps everyone at arm’s length, even when it hurts them and herself. This gives her character room to learn and grow, though, and her character journey was probably my favorite, despite struggling to empathize with her at the beginning.

In all, I’ll give There Are Rivers in the Sky a 10 out of 10. This is a beautifully written novel – it has perspective and depth and is beautifully written. Unlike many novels that attempt a similar wide lens, the pacing is well done rather than dragging on or stopping and starting. I think this is a book that everyone should read sometime in their lives.

This beautiful well-told story is told in three individual timelines - starting in 1840, 2014, and 2018 - and then expertly tied together through a single drop of water.
I loved reading about Mesopotamia, the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Yazidi people, all of whom I knew very little about, but was able to learn more through Shafak's elegant historical fiction writing.

I highly recommend it to those who love to read an epic story, like The Covenant of Water, The Vaster Wilds, Keikeyi, and Cutting for Stone.
Many thanks to #Knopf for an early ARC in exchange for my honest review.

“Each historical artefact, therefore, is a silent plea from ancestors to descendants, ‘Do not judge us too harshly.’”

3 storylines, two rivers and a single drop of water merge to tell the tale of connecting people across centuries. The novel opens in ancient times in Nineveh, a city in Mesopotamia, when a raindrop lands upon a king with a prominent library.

1840 - Another drop falls as a snowflake onto a newborn in Victorian London, along the Thames River. Arthur Smith (named “King of the Sewers and Slums) is born into poverty and grows up to become an intellectual genius. His love of the printed word and obsession with archeology and artifacts of the Cradle of Civilization save and change his life. He eventually interprets tablets in the British Museum and a discovery puts him on a quest to complete an ancient poem about Noah’s Ark which predates Greek myths and Bible verses.

2014 - Narin a young Yazidi girl living in Turkey, is planning to be baptized along the Tigris River and questions how her family fits into a quickly changing and dangerous landscape.

2018 - Zaleekhah a London scientist who has hit rock bottom personally, has rented a houseboat on the Thames. Her study, teaching and obsession with water connects her to the web of plot lines.

Each timeline is grounded in rich historical details and jaw dropping revelations, making this a two day read for me. Readers who commit to the 460 pages, are treated to the vision of Mesopotamia thru the imagination and then through the eyes of Arthur, Narin and Zaleekhah.

The rivers themselves and their tides moving from reflection of the past to the forecast of stormy seas ahead, set the scene for religious and political division across thousands of years. My takeaway from the encompassing narrative is that the power of water, will and words truly connect us all.

With excellent narration by Olivia Vinall, Ms. Shafak’s new book reminded me of a compressed version of The Covenant of Water, with a timeline structure comparable to Cloud Cuckoo Land.

Many thanks to Net Galley and Penguin Books for the early copy in exchange for my honest review. 4+ stars!

“Just like two drops of rain join on a windowpane, weaving their paths slowly and steadily, an invisible thread connects those who are destined to meet.”

There are Rivers in the Sky is a book about the journey of a single drop of water. The journey of a single soul through many lives.

It is a book about the unlikely connections between a Mesopotamian king, a boy born in a snowstorm on the River Thames in the 1800s, a girl living in a village on the River Tigris in 2014, and a woman studying the memory of water in London in 2018.

My opinion: this book is simply gorgeous. A book that made me want to stand up and clap at the end. Elif Shafak is a master storyteller whose skill shines through every single page.

I both loved these characters instantly and felt that love grow as the novel unfolded over many years. They were all real and immediate to me, even with Arthur’s timeline taking place in the 1800s. No character lived closer to my heart, however, than Narin. I could barely breathe as i read her sections.

This book itself is a river, the pacing fast, then slow. Flowing then choked with emotion.

Read if you love: a braided novel, characters you’ll fall in love with, beautiful writing, sweeping tales.

Thank you to Net Galley and Knopf for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. This story is probably one of favorite reads this year so far. With much research and incorporating real life stories and history, four stories are interwoven - the ancient city of Ninevah, Arthur an Englishman from 1800s London, Narin a Yazidi in Turkey from 2014, and Zaleekah a hydrologist nearly divorced from her husband who moves into a houseboat on the Thames in 2018. All their stories are interwoven through water a miracle, destroyer, killer and a necessity for all that lives and is part of the earth. There are themes of climate/water, culture, genocide, caste, historical theft of artifacts, one's destiny or fate, and making sacrifices for the future, whether right or wrong. I also appreciated the Author's Notes and getting clarity on how the author created such a beautiful and moving story. This is only my second book by this author but I so enjoy her writing and how she shows a perspective of our world in such a marvelous way..

Beautiful writing, beautiful stories, thought-provoking concepts. I was mesmerized by this book about water and it’s transcendence through time and place. People can be horrible while others are kind and loving. History has such an effect on the present. The main characters are perfectly depicted, we are compelled to keep reading to learn more of their fates. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this amazing reading experience.

I don’t often do a lot of highlighting (electronically) when I’m reading, but this was that rare book where I found myself marking numerous passages. It’s beautiful and complex, with recurring themes and symbols woven across multiple timelines, characters, and settings. I loved Shafak’s The Island of Missing Trees, and now I have a new must-read author.

The book begins in ancient Mesopotamia, with a raindrop falling on the head of Nineveh’s intellectual but tyrannical king Ashurbanipal. From there, we travel to 1840 for the birth of a poor child, ironically named “King Arthur of the Sewers and Slums”, on the shore of the Thames River. Then we meet a nine-year-old Yazidi girl in 2014 Turkey, and 2018 London we meet Zaleekhah, who is moving onto a rented houseboat on the Thames.

As Island of Missing Trees was about the long memory of trees, this book is similarly about the memory of water, how it gives us life and binds us together across time and space. The characters are drawn to water in its many forms. They are supported by it and at times, traumatized by it.

"Rivers are fluid bridges – channels of communications between separate worlds. They link one bank to the other, the past to the future, the spring to the delta, earthlings to celestial beings, the visible to the invisible, and ultimately, the living to the dead."

Zaleekhah is a hydrologist, studying the movement of water and the impacts of climate change. She’s particularly fascinated by the rivers that are buried as cities develop. Narin comes from Yazidi ancestors who are water-dowsers, meaning they can find and read water. In contrast, Arthur and some of the other characters are drawn not to water but to an ancient Mesopotamian form of writing, cuneiform.

Though in different times, their passions intersect as the book goes on. The characters explore ancient history and what it means in the past and present. There are also some dark moments, as the Yazidi are persecuted across multiple time periods.

While water is a powerful theme in this book, there are at least two others that are important: the impact of writing and storytelling (I loved the idea of an ancient goddess of writing), and the idea of pathways that guide us through life.

"When you are born into wealth and privilege, you inherit a plan that outlines the paths ahead, indicating the shortcuts and byways available to reach your destination… If you enter the world without such a map, you are bereft of proper guidance. You lose your way more easily, trying to pass through what you thought were orchards and gardens, only to discover they are marshland and peat bogs."

There is also a contrast between nature and civilization — dams destroy ancient cities and burial places, rivers are diverted to make way for buildings, and diseases flourish when clean water is unavailable.

I was a little worried when I started this book that it might feel a little too ethereal for me – I prefer reality to symbolism generally. But I needn’t have worried as Shafak is an excellent storyteller. The writing is beautiful but also very descriptive and down to earth, and the characters were immediately interesting. I loved everything about this book, and as it went on I couldn’t put it down. I’m very drawn to books about the connection between nature and people, as well as the repetitions of historical events and traumas. If you’re interested in that as well, I can’t recommend this book highly enough.

Note: I received an advance review copy from Netgalley and publisher Knopf Books. This book published August 20, 2024.

There Are Rivers in the Sky is a beautiful historical fiction novel that explores how humans are connected through water, regardless of time and setting.

This is the first book I’ve read by Elif Shafak. I’ve been intrigued by Shafak’s writing ever since The Island of Missing Trees was released in 2021, but I was unsure where to start. I’m glad I began with this one. In There Are Rivers in the Sky, Shafak masterfully interconnects the lives of three distinct characters across three different time periods. The novel begins with a unique and symbolic character that ties everything together—a drop of water.

The story starts off slowly as we are introduced to all the characters. However, as the narrative unfolds, the book gradually drew me in until I found myself fully invested, eager to see how it would end. I particularly enjoyed watching the various threads and plots come together. After a few unexpected, emotional, and gut-wrenching moments, the novel concludes on a hopeful note. My favorite part was learning about Mesopotamia, the lands surrounding the Tigris River, modern-day Iraq, and the lives of the Yazidi people.

Shafak employs repetition frequently throughout the text as a storytelling device. At times, it made the reading experience more impactful, while in other instances, it felt overused. However, this did not detract from my overall enjoyment of the story.

There is something here for everyone—a love story hindered by cultural divides, rich historical detail, a surprise appearance by Charles Dickens, endearing characters, the Epic of Gilgamesh, and references to Mesopotamian deities.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, & Anchor for an advance reader’s copy of There Are Rivers in the Sky.

I read the Island of Missing Trees when it. came out and was absolutely amazed by that story. I have had plans to go back and read her back log, but I just haven't been able to do that yet. When I saw she was coming out with a new book, I knew I would prioritize it as soon as it came out. From the beginning of this book I knew I would love it. I immediately fell in love with the characters, and enjoyed how water and the Epic of Gilgamesh tied the storylines together. Elif Shafak is truly talented at sweeping historical fiction. It was devastating to learn about the horrors and genocide that befell certain groups of people in history and I am disappointed that I wasn't all that familiar with this part of history prior to this book. I cannot wait to read more from this author.

This book was a joy to read. I enjoyed the way the story flowed and I had a few moments that kind of made me question a few things. The characters were very interesting and I had smile quite a few times. This author really knows how to tell a story that will captivate you from the very beginning. I highly recommend this book and this author.

Elif Shafak's new novel is about water and stories, and the way both continue to persist against impossible odds. It's also about people who keep persisting as long as they can, in the face of grief and trauma and displacement, and who sometimes don't succeed, but matter anyway. It's the story of three people: Arthur, born in the mud at side of the Thames, under the reign of Queen Victoria, haunted by a memory that forgets nothing (not even the day he was born), and equally haunted by Ninevah and the lost lines of the Epic of Gilgamesh; Yazidi Narin in 2014, born near the ruins of Ninevah where the epic was first discovered, in an increasingly dangerous time for her people; and Zaleekah in 2018, the London water scientist, who moves into a houseboat on the Thames as her life seems to be sweeping her away again. They are all survivors and not at all sure surviving is worth it, and they are all carriers of stories: Narin, who is going deaf, tries desperately to remember her grandmother's ancient stories, Arthur manages to decode the tablets from ancient Babylon, and Zuleekah, who hides from the stories she carries, even wonders about the stories born by water when there are no humans left to remember them.

The novel is passed back and forth between all three narrators. They inhabit the same spaces (the banks of the Tigris and the banks of the Thames). They pass the same objects back and forth between them, and they share each other's stories. Together they build rivers and the stories go on.

Thanks to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for my free earc in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are all my own.

Elif Shafak’s There Are Rivers in the Sky features the elements that I’ve loved in so many of her books: a touch of magic, multiple generations and eras, and different threads that ultimately weave together.

The novel begins with a drop of rain and King Ashurbanipal of Mesopotamia, a cruel king whose legacy affects the lives of many, including Arthur, born in a sewer in Victorian England; Narin, a Yazidi girl in Turkey with a disorder causing deafness; and Zaleekah, a hydrologist whose crumbled marriage leads her to take a new life direction.

As the narrative shifts between their stories, Shafak explores the impacts of climate change, of poverty and inequity, of ignorance. Her writing is simply gorgeous, both on the sentence level and in the ways it peels back the layers of the characters’ connections.

There were moments when the whimsy of the raindrop didn’t work for me, occasions when I felt as if the pace of the narrative could have been a little faster. Ultimately, though, this one ranks in the top half of Shafak’s books for me, driven by her exploration of the cycles that spin through human history.

This book broke my heart multiple times.

I love the concept of following a drop of water and how it connects different people throughout history. I enjoyed getting to hear the stories of the three main characters throughout the book.

Different timelines.different people.You would think it would be confusing and all over the place.Elif Shafak as always does a great job of weaving wonderful characters all connected by water.The plight of the Yazidis is heartbreaking and I’m so glad people get to hear about it..
Thankyou Netgalley for this ARC

A brilliant concept beautifully executed. A single raindrop travels across time and space and ties the stories together. You have King Ashurbanipal, an ancient Assyrian ruler who built a great library in Nineveh on the banks of the Tigress River. We read about another “king,” King Arthur of the Slums and Sewers who is born along the river Thames into a world that could have come straight out of a Dickens novel. Moving into the present time, we learn of Narin a young Yazidi girl growing up along the Tigris, but whose world is soon shattered in more ways than one. And finally, we meet Zaleekah, a hydrologist who is going through some major life changes and who moves into a houseboat on the Thames. All the stories are exquisite and told so well. Water is the thread that holds them all together and makes you more aware of this precious resource that we so often take for granted. The Epic of Gilgamesh is another common theme woven throughout the novel. I was unaware of its existence until I read this book, and I definitely plan on reading more about it. Blown away by all the stuff I learned about the Yazidi. They really are a misunderstood and wrongly persecuted people. Outstanding read for historical fiction fans or anyone who loves a really great story. 5+++ stars

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for the gifted early copy.

The book spans 3 different timelines and connects 3 people and their lives. I loved the overall message and idea of the water having a memory. It was a difficult concept but executed brilliantly. The writing was so flowery and felt like poetic prose, but so fitting to the message and the stories of the main characters.
An author's note made me cry. The author combined a lot in this book but it did not feel overwhelming, it was balanced and provided so much insight and information.
Highly recommend it, but have a recovery book ready because this would tear your heart open.

How many stars can you give a book? I finished this a few days ago and my mind is too occupied with it to move onto other books. I will definitely be suggesting (pushing) this book to our library books clubs. Thank you Elif Shafak for making me push through my tears and stay with this story.

This book is one to savor. Not to be read quickly, but one should sit and take in all that it delivers. It is a story most unique, seamlessly weaving together the lives of 3 people who lived during different time periods, who have all been touched by the same drop of water. In the late 1800s we meet “King Arthur of the Sewers and Slums”. Born into property as his name suggests, Arthur is a genius who tries to find his place in the world. In 2014 we meet Narin, a young Yazidi girl whose religion is sadly misunderstood by others and who soon is thrust into a terrible tragedy. Lastly, we meet Zaleekhah, a scientist dealing with her own personal troubles. The author tells the story beautifully, with a gentle flow and such wonderful detail that it was easy to envision everything she tried to convey. There were tiny bits of each person’s story that connected to the others that made me stop and say “ah!”. I felt very connected to the characters, happy for them when they celebrated”, and sympathy for each of their troubles. <br />Although I most often read historical fiction, it usually takes place in the World War II era. I was glad I picked this one on a whim and I look forward to reading more stories by this author! I recommend it for anyone who enjoys history and a beautifully written story. Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

Three different people, living three very different lives in three different periods of time-all connected by a single drop of water. "There are Rivers in the Sky" by Elif Shafak is an exquisitely written work of literary fiction that captivated me from the very first page to the last. As water connects all people and times, the book follows the lives of characters whose lives are shaped by the rivers by which they live. Both the Tigris and the Thames play an intricate role in this beautiful, but sorrowful novel. If this book does not at least make the long lists for all the major book awards, I will be very surprised.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the privilege of reading an advanced copy of this beautiful book.