There Are Rivers in the Sky
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There Are Rivers in the Sky
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Narrated by:
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Olivia Vinall
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Elif Shafak
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By:
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Elif Shafak
About this listen
Brought to you by Penguin.
This audiobook is read by Olivia Vinall, and Elif Shafak reads the Note to Reader at the end of the story.
This is the story of one lost poem, two great rivers, and three remarkable lives – all connected by a single drop of water.
In the ruins of Nineveh, that ancient city of Mesopotamia, there lies hidden in the sand fragments of a long-forgotten poem, the Epic of Gilgamesh.
In Victorian London, an extraordinary child is born at the edge of the dirt-black Thames. Arthur’s only chance of escaping poverty is his brilliant memory. When his gift earns him a spot as an apprentice at a printing press, Arthur’s world opens up far beyond the slums, with one book soon sending him across the seas: Nineveh and Its Remains.
In 2014 Turkey, Narin, a Yazidi girl living by the River Tigris, waits to be baptised with water brought from the holy sit of Lalish in Iraq. The ceremony is cruelly interrupted, and soon Narin and her grandmother must journey across war-torn lands in the hope of reaching the sacred valley of their people.
In 2018 London, broken-hearted Zaleekhah, a hydrologist, moves to a houseboat on the Thames to escape the wreckage of her marriage. Zaleekhah foresees a life drained of all love and meaning – until an unexpected connection to her homeland changes everything.
A dazzling feat of storytelling from one of the greatest writers of our time, Elif Shafak’s There are Rivers in the Sky is a rich, sweeping novel that spans centuries, continents and cultures, entwined by rivers, rains, and waterdrops:
‘Water remembers. It is humans who forget.’
*****
‘Elif Shafak is a unique and powerful voice in world literature’ Ian McEwan
'An extraordinary novel, fresh and cleansing, like the rain bouncing off the metal roof of our lives.' Colum McCann
'Make place for Elif Shafak on your bookshelf. Make place for her in your heart too. You won't regret it' Arundhati Roy
'One of the best writers in the world today' Hanif Kureishi
'A brilliant, unforgettable novel' Mary Beard
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What listeners say about There Are Rivers in the Sky
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- palneru
- 14-10-24
Fantastic woven tale
Love how one is drawn into this story through the ages. Was so surprised to hear of the Yazidis, especially as a young yazidi girl has just been rescued from Hamas
Control in Gaza
It has been educational and beautiful
Thank you
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Lynn
- 15-10-24
Thought provoking
Beautifully written but harrowing tail. It makes you reconsider man’s inhumanity to man and women in particular.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Dione
- 13-10-24
A moving and remarkable book
I heartily recommend this beautiful book. A synchronistic and important story that deserves accolades. Water is absolutely essential and carries eternal memory in the drops that fall from the sky.
So well researched and hits hard when it comes to the inhumanity of some power seeking callous regimes.
well researched and from the heart.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Lizzy h
- 27-08-24
Amazing characters woven through a complex narrative
I enjoyed the locations, characters and histories in the novel. The novel is layered with facts, details and emotions of many peoples that are connected by the source of life -water.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Vichy
- 11-11-24
Epic tale
First of all, this is beautifully read, which is crucial with a book of this length.
I feel this is the apotheosis of Shafak’s writing career. It features her characteristic storybook evocations of ancient times and vivid characters with her humanitarian and environmental concerns. The Epic of Gilgamesh is an ongoing theme that reminds us that human greed and violence along with love and spirituality transcends history and the cycle of civilisations seems as infinite as the cycle of water. What remains constant is our connection to each other and to the planet, whether we choose to acknowledge this or not.
If you need to understand how much is real and imagined - or reimagined- skip to her detailed acknowledgements.
But it’s probably best to lie back and let this tale flow over your ears like warm water.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Vicky Eatough
- 29-10-24
Incredible story and narration
Extraordinarily moving narrative and wonderful characters. This novel was sensitively and thoughtfully written. Another beautiful book by Shafak
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- DHJB
- 22-08-24
Extraordinary!
I have never reviewed an audiobook before but felt that I must on this occasion. I was enamored by the concept of a 'single drop of water' and how this was consistently followed through the whole of the book. I lost the thread of things from time to time but that was due to my inattention. The mystery of a part of the world which I've never truly studied held me in thrall. I last visited the British Museum shortly before I travelled to Egypt and may do again to see if a 'single drop' of inspiration might fall on me!
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- cathy
- 23-10-24
Fabulous
Loved the multi faceted informative story and excellent narration . Even better than her last book.
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1 person found this helpful
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- OK
- 23-09-24
It spoke to me
Beautifully written and narrated. Informative, imaginative, powerful and emotional human stories, masterly interweaving in a truthful historical background.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Hayley
- 19-11-24
An epic tale, with an admirably entwined storyline
An epic tale set alongside the rivers Thames and Tigris, following the lives and struggles of three characters in the 19th century and today, all connected by water.
The novel was scrupulously researched and fascinating in its details but for me, there was just a little too much to take in and I would quite like the stories to have been set across two books to better encompass the content, which included climate change, poverty, cultural appropriation, depression and mental health, trauma, generational misogyny, historical religious aggressions and possibly more that I cannot now recall.
The characters and storyline were incredible and beautifully intertwined, I will miss Arthur, Narim and Zaleekhah, and would love for them to be revisited in some way in the future.
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