《There Are Rivers in the Sky》 is a nov­el by Elif Shafak, pub­lished in August 2024. The nar­ra­tive intri­cate­ly weaves togeth­er the lives of three indi­vid­u­als across dif­fer­ent eras and loca­tions, all con­nect­ed by the theme of water and the ancient Epic of Gil­gamesh.

• Arthur Smyth: Born in 1840s Lon­don to impov­er­ished par­ents along the pol­lut­ed Riv­er Thames, Arthur pos­sess­es an extra­or­di­nary mem­o­ry. His fas­ci­na­tion with the ancient city of Nin­eveh and its arti­facts pro­pels him from the slums to a career in pub­lish­ing and archae­ol­o­gy.
• Nar­in: A nine-year-old Yazi­di girl liv­ing near the Tigris Riv­er in 2014 Turkey, Nar­in faces the impend­ing loss of her hear­ing due to a rare dis­or­der. Her grand­moth­er is deter­mined to have her bap­tized in a sacred Iraqi tem­ple, a jour­ney fraught with dan­ger amidst the rise of ISIS.
• Zaleekhah Clarke: In 2018 Lon­don, Zaleekhah, a hydrol­o­gist recov­er­ing from a recent divorce, moves onto a house­boat on the Thames. She becomes engrossed in a book about her home­land, lead­ing her on a path of self-dis­cov­ery and con­nec­tion to her roots.

A unique nar­ra­tive ele­ment is the jour­ney of a sin­gle drop of water that tra­vers­es time and space, sym­bol­iz­ing the inter­con­nect­ed­ness of human expe­ri­ences and his­to­ry. This drop wit­ness­es key moments in each char­ac­ter’s life, empha­siz­ing the nov­el­’s cen­tral theme: “Water remem­bers. It is humans who for­get.”

Shafak’s sto­ry­telling delves into themes of mem­o­ry, iden­ti­ty, and the endur­ing impact of ancient texts on con­tem­po­rary lives. The nov­el has been praised for its ambi­tious scope and lyri­cal prose, offer­ing read­ers a rich tapes­try of inter­con­nect­ed nar­ra­tives that span cen­turies and con­ti­nents.