There Are Rivers in the Sky

Our Review

Water remembers.

It is humans who forget.

I am a massive fan of Elif Shafak so there was never any doubt that I was going to love There Are Rivers in the Sky. I don't even know where to begin when reviewing this beautifully written novel. 

The book begins with the reader following a single raindrop as it falls onto the ancient city of Nineveh in the region of Mesopotamia. 

"Remember the drop, inconsequential though it may be compared with the magnitude of the universe. Inside it's miniature orb, it holds the secret of infinity, a story of it's own. When it finally musters the courage, it leaps into the ether. It is falling now fast, faster. Gravity always helps."

The raindrop falls upon the head of King Ashurbanipal as he looks upon a tablet inscribed with an ancient poem about a hero called Gilgamesh. Both the raindrop and the poem will appear time and time again within the novel, threads woven throughout, linking the different timelines together.

'King Arthur of the Sewers and Slums' was born into a poor family in Victorian London. He was gifted with an extraordinary memory and remembers everything, including the very moment of his birth. When he is given an opening as an apprentice at a prestigious printers Arthur is able to open his horixzons and began to explore the world around him. 

"Arthur Smyth is gifted with an extraordinary memory - visual, verbal and sensory. Just as of rain or a pellet of hail, water in whatever form will always remember, he, too, will never forget. What he sees or what he hears or what he feels, even once, he retains forever. A blessing from God, others may hasten to add. But also a terrible curse, as he will soon find out."

The second timeline takes place in 2014, with Narin, a young Yazidi girl, waiting to be baptised. Indeed every timeline within the book takes place with some body of water in the background, whether it be the Thames, or in this case the River Tigris. 

Over 80 thousand people have been displaced in the area and foreign companies have pulled out of investments in the area due to concerns about human rights, cultural heritage and environmental destruction. 

"A 12,000-year-old history will be obliterated by a dam that will last 50 years - the lifespan of a mule. This region - home to churches, chapels, mosques, monasteries, synagogues and shrines - has already lost so much heitage. Most local populations have migrated to cities, near and far, where they have been swallowed by the currents of urban life, severed from the traditions that always sustained them."

I loved the relationship between Narin and her grandma Besma, how she shielded her as much as possible from the persecution of the Yazidis. 

Since time immemorial, the Yazidis have been misunderstood, maligned, mistreated. Ours is a history of pain and persecution. Seventy-two times we have been massacred. The Tigris turned red with our blood, the soil dried up with our grief - and they still haven't finished hating us.

The final timeline takes place in 2018 in London with a hydrologist named Zaleekhah moving into a houseboat on the Thames after the breakdown of her marriage. She was orphaned at an early age and her uncle has taught her the very important lesson that immigrants can't afford to fail, a lesson she has internalised. Zaleekhah has spent her life feeling like she has to prove herself to be worthy of her uncles generosity within her life.

There wasn't a single aspect of this novel that didn't move me in some way. I absolutely loved it. 

When you have set your eyes on the journey

Let your heart have no fear, keep your eyes on me.

 

Our Final Rating...

7 Weeks Ago