There Are Rivers in the Sky

A Novel

De: Elif Shafak

Narrado por: Olivia Vinall, Elif Shafak

From the Booker Prize finalist, author of The Island of Missing Trees, an enchanting new tale about three characters living along two great rivers, all connected by a single drop of water.

"Make place for Elif Shafak on your bookshelf. Make place for her in your heart too. You won't regret it."—Arundhati Roy, winner of the Booker Prize

In the ancient city of Nineveh, on the bank of the River Tigris, King Ashurbanipal of Mesopotamia, erudite but ruthless, built a great library that would crumble with the end of his reign. From its ruins, however, emerged a poem, the Epic of Gilgamesh, that would infuse the existence of two rivers and bind together three lives.

In 1840 London, Arthur is born beside the stinking, sewage-filled River Thames. With an abusive, alcoholic father and a mentally ill mother, Arthur’s only chance of escaping destitution is his brilliant memory. When his gift earns him a spot as an apprentice at a leading publisher, Arthur’s world opens up far beyond the slums, and one book in particular catches his interest: Nineveh and Its Remains.

In 2014 Turkey, Narin, a ten-year-old Yazidi girl, is diagnosed with a rare disorder that will soon cause her to go deaf. Before that happens, her grandmother is determined to baptize her in a sacred Iraqi temple. But with the rising presence of ISIS and the destruction of the family’s ancestral lands along the Tigris, Narin is running out of time.

In 2018 London, the newly divorced Zaleekah, a hydrologist, moves into a houseboat on the Thames to escape her husband. Orphaned and raised by her wealthy uncle, Zaleekah had made the decision to take her own life in one month, until a curious book about her homeland changes everything.

A dazzling feat of storytelling, There Are Rivers in the Sky entwines these outsiders with a single drop of water, a drop which remanifests across the centuries. Both a source of life and harbinger of death, rivers—the Tigris and the Thames—transcend history, transcend fate: “Water remembers. It is humans who forget.”

©2024 Elif Shafak (P)2024 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

"An odyssey, an epic, a lament, and a tale of redemption, There Are Rivers in the Sky is a clarion call to honor the elemental forces that shape our memories, our histories, and our world. In short, a masterpiece."—Ruth Ozeki, author of The Book of Form and Emptiness

"Flows like rivers from ancient Nineveh to present-day London with characters of the distant past as bright and vivid as those of today.” —Philippa Gregory, author of The Other Boleyn Girl

“Walt Whitman said that a blade of grass contains the journey work of stars. William Blake wrote that we can see the world in a grain of sand. Toni Morrison said that we never shape the world, but the world shapes us. And so Shafak finds the world in a drop of water. She discovers the epic in the tiny, the global in the local, the love in the loss, the history in the momentary. An extraordinary novel, fresh and cleansing, like the rain bouncing off the metal roof of our lives.” —Colum McCann, author of Let the Great World Spin and Aperignon

Masterful

Lyrical, historically accurate, painstakingly researched, beautifully narrated. One of my favorite books in the last five years

Heavy but beautiful

Human stories moving and compelling. The first chapters were hard to get into but I enjoyed more and more as book went on

Fascinating Middle Eastern History

Story is mesmerizing and all consuming (as are most of Shafek's novels). Told from multiple views and timelines which is usually not a positive thing for me but this novel is spot on from the first paragraph. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good read or listen - Elif Shafek is an extraordinary storyteller!

Beautiful interwoven characters

The story mixes historic and current events, creating a very personal account of people impacted by conflict and power in the Middle East. The story is beautifully written with wonderfully interesting characters.

Exceptional research, flowing narrative, masterful

Extraordinary artistry, exceptional research, humane and arresting story. Ancient rivers modern lives. The ebb and flow of Mesopotamia’s lives

I will never be able to look at water the same way

this was a wonderful story. I wanted to luxuriate in every word and slow my pace in order to take in so much detail. all I want to say to you, enjoy the journey.

The Author is a Masterful Storyteller

This is the second book I am reading by this author, and I am amazed by her ability for storytelling. Captivating stories of individuals living in different eras and countries, from different backgrounds and cultures, weaved together seamlessly to deliver a masterpiece infused with historical facts. Highly recommended!

Heartbreaking and Beautiful

Learned a lot while reading this beautiful story. It will break your heart, but also make you look at things from a very different perspective.

The plight of the Yavidis

Superb characterizations; enjoyed the remarkable story, beautiful writing, though at times tediously detailed descriptions of the inanimate world.

Beautiful story telling

Follow a drop of water through time and people. I couldn’t stop listening! And I already want to listen again. It’s one of those books that you never want to end