There are Rivers in the Sky: The beautiful Sunday Times bestseller from the author of The Island of Missing Trees & BBC Between the Covers Book Club pick

I've read several books by this author and have enjoyed them all so was keen to read her latest when it was published in paperback. Whenever I hear Elif Shafak is being interviewed I always try to listen as I love her voice - it has a gorgeous velvety quality that always sounds soothing. This book was first published in 2024. It has 470 pages split into five parts. We see the story from the perspective of three (four?) characters who take turns to be the main focus of the narrative. The writing is beautiful and you can sink into it - soaking up very glorious detail. And detail is a huge part of this author's style, taking time to show us in luxurious depth. Along with seeing, you also smell, feel, hear and sometimes even taste what is around. As you are reading there is a temptation to speed ahead to find out more but take your time and go with the flow of the narrative. Every so often the author gives lists of words which always seem to demand that you slow down and that will make the book seem at its best. Amongst the rich language there is also plenty of perceptive observations from the natural world and the humans that inhabit it. I often paused to contemplate a particular sentence. This is a perfect book to read slowly and thoughtfully - encouraging heart rate and blood pressure to reduce. Wound through the main narrative there is much for the reader to learn. The portrait of Victorian life is very visual and the Mesopotamian history is fascinating. We get to know each of the three characters gradually. All are in their separate worlds and very different from each other. Time and locations become closer as connections are revealed showing the beauty of humanity if we take the time to look. Of course, water is used for many metaphors and remains as a strong theme throughout the novel. I loved researching some of the ancient stories as I worked my way through the book - it is almost unbelievable that this civilisation existed such a long time ago but the proof is there. The book is a perfect example of fiction's ability to explain facts. At the end of the book, the author opens up her research and tells how she has used real documents by bending their stories for the narrative of the novel. I love this book and eagerly await her next one.

A book club read for 2026 for my book club. It was a good book, but felt the ending was weak, overall we as a book club gave it 8/10 so thats why I gave it 4 stars.

I haven't read anything so captivatingly beautiful in a very long time. It the first book by Elif Shafak I have read and I was mesmerised from start to finish. I devoured each chapter, eagerly following the stories of its three main characters, connected through the memory of water. At the same time, I dreaded reaching the end, not wanting to break the spell it had cast on my imagination. Superbly crafted and beautifully written. Loved every word of it. Thank you Elif Shafak for your exceptional storytelling.

I loved this book. It deals with so many things. You will come away a better and more knowledgeable person. It is not always easy to get into because of the many strands, but well worth it. Many of its main characters are loveable, especially the Yazidis - so often the Pariahs of the Near East. I will not spoil the plot, but here are 2 quotes which have much relevance today. "How can anyone assume they will please the Creator by hurting his Creation?" "And what is passion if not a restlessness of the heart, yearning to surpass its limits, like a river overflowing its banks" I am resolved to read the Gilgamesh Epic.

A beautifully written and structured panoramic multi layered novel which weaves strands of history, science (hydrology), cultural, spiritual and folk beliefs through a superb telling of multiple life stories spanning many centuries.

I’m enjoying it but others didn’t. Not fast moving and jumps about in time and characters somewhat but an I teresti g and unusual look at history

Beautifully written and very descriptive- can be hard to follow as switches between characters and times but worth sticking with it . Nearly 500 pages

Beautifully written, fantastic story through the ages and across the world. Wonderful descriptive prose. Couldn’t put it down!!

There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak is a beautifully layered novel that flows across time, memory, and geography like the rivers it evokes. Shafak gently weaves history, mythology, and the human longing for belonging, offering a rich glimpse into Middle Eastern culture, spirituality, and storytelling traditions. The characters feel deeply human, carrying the weight of history and identity. By the end, it leaves a quiet book hangover—that lingering feeling where the story stays with you, like an echo of distant waters and ancient lands. Poetic, thoughtful, and deeply immersive. 🌊📚

Oustanding book with an unforgetable story and characters.

Imperdibile!!!!

I must say , I am profoundly and forever changed by this book. If I could give it a 100 stars I would. How do I begin a review ? This book checked all boxes for me for what I adore in a story. Multiple protagonists and storylines that connect beautifully that I was deeply invested in their lives , I know I will think about their characters long after I finished the book. Extensively researched and based on true horrific events , I learnt so much new history that I embarrassingly had no idea about ; the Yazidi genocide, organ trafficking, ancient Mesopotamian culture and literature , the devastating effects of urbanization on rivers and waters of the world and the deploring plight and livelihoods of people burdened by poverty and mental illness. And what can I possibly say about the exquisite poetic incredibly lyrical writing except that if you ignore to read this book , it’s truly at your own loss. Usually I don’t read for the same author twice to be open to new reading territories but Elif Shafak is definitely an exception to this rule . Cheers

Evidently, the author conducted extensive research while writing this book, and that is undeniably impressive. However, the result feels like an overwhelming regurgitation of all that research—every fact, note, and piece of knowledge the author gathered seems to have been crammed into the book. This approach makes the reading experience, firstly, quite dull, and secondly, detrimental to the storytelling and character development. The book suffers from a lack of good editing. Much of the content on Mesopotamian history is repetitive and, frankly, boring. By the end, I found myself increasingly irritated by yet another story about water this, goddess that, Gilgamesh this, and Gilgamesh that, all lacking depth or purpose. The same artifacts—clay tablets, Lamassu, book on Nineveh etc.—pop up relentlessly in nearly every paragraph. I get it: clay tablets and Lamassu are significant. But must every character encounter them, dream about them, love them, own them, dig them up, or draw them? By the book’s conclusion, I half expected a Lamassu to be served at Uncle Malik’s dinner on a clay tablet. The characters are underdeveloped and feel two-dimensional, serving primarily as placeholders for the barrage of research, facts, and stories crammed into the pages. There’s little room for the characters to breathe or come alive. Only Arthur offers any meaningful insight into his life, his experiences, and his motivations. The rest are bland and, at times, outright annoying (which feels harsh to say, given the tragedy of Narim’s life). They offer little in terms of thoughts, dialogue, or purpose. Zalikah gets up, eats breakfast, looks out the window, runs, and is depressed. Narim watches flies and eats food lovingly prepared by her grandmother while we’re reminded for the hundredth time that they are healers despised by others. I understood that the first time—no need for endless repetition. The King of Nineveh makes a fleeting, meaningless appearance with no insight into his story. Most characters are impossibly virtuous, so saintly and tragic that it becomes grating. There’s also little connection between them. The shared elements—the drop of water, the Lamassu, clay tablets, lapis lazuli, and the recurring book—feel contrived and, frankly, unbelievable. Then there’s the book’s central premise—the drop of water—which is absurd. A single drop of water doesn’t travel through space and time. A drop contains about 1,670,000,000,000,000,000,000 molecules, which will never come together again in the same way. The concept tying the characters with a drop of water is, quite honestly, nonsense. Other inconsistencies should have been caught by a good editor. For example, milk dripping from newborn Arthur is biologically implausible—he would have drunk a few drops of colostrum at most. Baking biscuits in the oven for 40 minutes? That suggests the author hasn’t baked anything herself. And an infant remembering their own birth? Not possible, no matter how genius or savant the baby might be. The book is chaotic. The extensive research would have been better left in the background, allowing more focus on the characters and their stories. Narim’s tragic history takes 200 pages of flower-smelling and water-pondering to unfold, but the actual tragedy is presented in just a few pages. What a lost opportunity. Zalikah and her friend contribute little beyond drinking lavender coffee (mentioned at least five times), drawing Lamassu, tatooing ancient symbols and baking cakes—not enough to sustain good literature. Malik’s family is barely fleshed out, and we learn nothing meaningful about the King or the everyday lives of Nineveh’s people. Leila seems erratic and one-dimensional, defined only by sleepwalking and divining. What truly binds these characters together? The answer, it seems, is nothing substantial. In summary, this book felt like an over-researched, sprawling collection of facts that ultimately amounted to very little.