There are Rivers in the Sky Paperback – 8 August 2024

Some books tell stories and some books become experiences—There Are Rivers in the Sky is the latter. It doesn’t just unfold in time; it moves like a river, bending, circling back, carrying fragments of history, memory and melancholy in its current. From the very first page, I found myself immersed in a world where history isn’t just something that happened—it lingers, shifts, and seeps into the present like water through cracks in ancient stone. The novel follows Arthur, a man whose life is shaped by absence, loss and a relentless pursuit of the forgotten. His story is intertwined with lost civilizations, fragile memories and people who exist in the liminal space between belonging and exile.What truly makes this book remarkable is its emotional undercurrent. It doesn’t just describe sorrow—it lets you feel the weight of histories erased, cultures displaced and identities fractured. And yet, it never feels overwhelming. Like a river, the novel carries its melancholy gently, making it something beautiful rather than burdensome. Few books use water as a narrative device as powerfully as this one. Water preserves, erases, heals and destroys. It is a metaphor for time itself, a force that both remembers and forgets.The novel’s nonlinear structure mirrors how memory actually works—it drifts, loops and resurfaces, never truly leaving us. Its characters feel like echoes of lost civilizations, people caught in history’s tide, never fully anchored and always searching. One of the thing which resonated with me very much is how this book treats melancholy—not as something to escape, but as something that connects us—to history, to memory and to one another. It soothed me in ways I didn’t expect and it lingers in my mind like the remnants of a dream.Some books are written in ink—this one feels written in water, flowing through you long after you’ve finished reading. If you are drawn to stories about lost knowledge, human fragility and the way time shapes us, then There Are Rivers in the Sky will stay with you long after you’ve closed its pages.

Excellent as expected

Elif Shafak takes you from the source to the delta of two magnificent rivers interwining a tale of three water-bound characters.The book bounces from London to Mesopotamia, from the 19th century to the 21st.There was a pang of sadness when the book ended, would have loved to learn what happened to Narin as an adult, would Arthur ever find his convictions again and whether in the future the Thames and the Tigris would flow again, fresh as a spring, undammed and mystical.

Wonderful and thought provoking book on love, humanity and connections that transcend time and boundaries.

What an amazing book. Parallel stories running together but all integrated in a common theme. Elifs books are magical, and I am unashamedly a big fan.

The pages are too thinThe Book cover is also paper thin.

"Water remembers. It is humans who forget."Even a single raindrop.Thus begins the master storyteller, Elif Shafak's , "There are Rivers in the Sky".When one writes about history, it's a narration of what has been told many times over. The approach of a writer, is what, sets it apart. Here, Elif deploys the journey of a drop of water, to illustrate the times, from the ancient ruins of Nineveh in Mesopotamia to the birth and life of Arthur in Victorian London, to Narin of the Yezdi community, by the river Tigris in Turkey, to Zaleekhah, a hydrologist in London, in 2018.The extensively researched account of each period is an attention holder. The Epic of Gilgamesh, an iconic poem in the Cuneiform script holds centrestage.Woven around them are stories of antiquities, mysticism, cultural appropriation, war, immigration, race conflicts and genocide.Elif Shafak holds one spellbound with her expertise - interspersed are lyrical quotes and elaborate, vivid descriptions of the prevailing atmosphere and settings. A departure from her previous books, this acclaimed top lister, reinforces her stature as a commanding writer.A life philosophy embedded, in her lines from the book -"Go like water, come back like water-freely and easily."Highly recommended.

I read There are Rivers In The Sky more as a writer than a reader. My book is full of highlighter marks, as I highlighted many sentences and passages. I was more enamoured by the craft of the narrative rather than the story. What made this book different for me was the depth of the descriptions, which, in certain places, felt almost sensual.Such words can move the reader’s heart. But I have to admit that it makes the pacing of the book slow. Like a giant river, the story meanders on its journey, jumping between the stories of Arthur, Narin and Zaleekah, towards the climax, where suddenly, like a waterfall, it rushes towards the end. Another bookish friend mentioned the depth of research in the book, doesn’t translate to easy reading and I concur. Excellent writing aside, there are certain places where the story simply plods. But for me, rather than the length of the book, which runs to almost 467 pages without the author’s note, it was ending, which was disappointing. It felt rushed and a tad predictable.Part historical fiction, part commentary on religious prejudices still in the world, there is no doubt that There Are Rivers In the Sky is a powerful book. But would I recommend it? If you are a die-hard Elif Shafak fan, then yes. She has a way with words that keeps you hooked until the end. If you are a newbie to the world of Elif Shafak, I would recommend a few of her older works like Honour or Forty Rules of Love to understand her writing style before moving to this one. But if you are an aspiring writer, then I would definitely recommend it. You will learn a lot about the craft of story weaving from the book.