There are Rivers in the Sky
Elif Shafak
There are Rivers in the Sky
Elif Shafak
The new novel from the Booker-shortlisted, internationally bestselling author of The Island of Missing Trees and 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World.
'A storm is approaching Nineveh, the sky swollen with impending rain. One of the clouds approaching the world's largest and wealthiest city, built on the banks of the river Tigris, is bigger and darker than the others-and more impatient. It floats suspended above a majestic building adorned with marble columns, pillared porticos and monumental statues. This is the North Palace, where the king resides in all his might and glory. The cloud casts a shadow over the imperial residence. For unlike humans, water has no regard for social status or royal titles.
Dangling from the edge of the cloud is a single drop of rain - no bigger than a bean and lighter than a chickpea. For a while it quivers precariously - small, spherical and scared. How frightening it is to observe the earth open down below like a lonely lotus flower.
Remember that raindrop, inconsequential though it may be compared to the magnitude of the universe. Inside, it holds a miniature world, a story of its own...'
Review
Nicole Vasilev
Elif Shafak is back with an ambitious novel, and perhaps her best yet, a masterful take on historical fiction. Shafak invites readers into a world where three different storylines are beautifully intertwined across different timelines, all connected by a single drop of water.
We are introduced to three different yet interconnected protagonists from different eras and locales. In Victorian London, Arthur, a gifted boy from the slums, is thrust into a broader world when he encounters a book Nineveh and Its Remains; this tale leads him to an obsession with Mesopotamian history, anchoring his life’s journey.
In modern-day Turkey, we meet Narin, a Yazidi girl travelling a perilous journey along with her grandmother to the sacred waters of Lalish, in order to be baptised. Her peaceful life is shattered by violence, and amid a landscape marred by conflict, she seeks refuge and to reconnect with her ancestral heritage.
In contemporary London, Zaleekhah, a hydrologist recovering from a broken marriage, finds solace in a houseboat on the Thames River. Her story is embedded with the rivers she studies; she reflects on love and loss, and her enduring memories that serve as a crucial link within the story’s broader tapestry.
At the heart of this novel is a single drop of water. Beginning with a drop on King Ashurbanipal’s head, this droplet’s journey through evaporation and rain, bridges the characters journeys. Shafak’s prose is beautiful to read, and though the novel is an ambitious one, I had no trouble following the narratives, and found them woven together perfectly at the end. This novel is a remarkable achievement on how water, history, and memory intertwine to shape our identities and experiences. It was a beautiful story, and one that pushed me to research more about these parts of history I didn’t know much about. Highly recommended.
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