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

Unforgettable characters, a beautifully written story. Waiting for and then reading, Shafak’s latest novel is rather like being told you are going to meet your greatest, most revered hero. You are scared that you are going to be disappointed by the reality of the encounter. But worry not; as always, after just a few pages all that trepidation melts away. You remember just what makes Elif Shafak such a special writer - her empathy, the quality of her research and the breadth of her vision. She challenges and delights, dealing with harrowing and challenging topics, skilfully and carefully. A writer at the very peak - or very high plateau - of her powers.

I have read all but one of Elif’s books, this wasnt the easiest book to read in the beginning, and i wont lie i was a bit over whelmed by the length of it, 480+ pages. None the less about a 100 pages in, the book really engages u, it speaks to you, its 3 main characters, Arthur, Narin and Zaleekha come to life. I particularly loved Arthur’s character, and being a fan of the British museum having spent countless hours there, loved the detailed description of scenes featuring Zaleekha and her co character.Going further into the story would be spoiling it for the would be reader. One point i will add, i do not know if Elif does it on purpose, her books end with an inconclusive ending, not sure if its a coincidence or by design, to open it up to the reader’s imagination, how the story would continue beyond the book. A good book may end, but the story always continues on. Thank you Elif for another brilliant read. It brought back some memories of the Architect’s apprentice, and I would rate it on par with Honour or the Bastard of Istanbul. Cant wait for the next one, i wish more of your books were published in my native ‘Urdu’ so i could share your wonderful literature with friends and family.

as above

For me Elif Shafak is one of the best novelists writing today. This too is good: intricate plot, fascinating characters, timeless themes, a profound humanity. Its elements of the fantastic bewitched this reader. “This story is a truth through which truth breathes”.She begins with a single drop of rain falling on the head of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal in 630 BCE. The same drop is recycled through the novel. It falls as a snowflake on the lips of Arthur in Victorian London, moistens the parched lips of the Hazidi child Narin in Iraq in 2014 and slips as a teardrop from the eye of scientist Zaleekhah in 2018. The narrative weaves together the lives of man, woman and child, east and west, past present and future. It is an elegy to water which flows in and out of all their lives. It gives and it takes. Two mighty rivers, the Thames and the Tigris, link the characters. There is a desperate sadness to much of the story. The trials of Narin are heart-breaking. The final pages pack an emotional punch that takes the breath away.Rivers is a long novel that moves back and forth in time between Zaleekhah, Arthur and Narin. One or two of the supporting characters I found a little weak – well one in particular. The potency of whole picture, the whole truth, is undeniable.Elif signs off her novel to Nisaba. Nisaba was the ancient Mesopotamian goddess of stories.

A beautifully descriptive novel. It is flawlessly written, immediately accessible and I simply cannot remember the last time I felt so absolutely at home with a book right from the first few pages.Her writing is both elegant and eloquent and simply flows. The story is told in two separate and very different strands, the first dealing with episodes in London and the Middle-East in the mid-19th century and the second dealing with events in the UK, mainly London, in around 2018; the two run alongside each other quite naturally, almost seamlessly.However, the subject of the book is not light, dealing as it does with extreme racism and brutal and barbaric rape as part of a system of ethnic cleansing.A truly fantastic book that held my attention throughout its 480 pages.

A really wonderful novel that everyone should read! The book itself is beautiful!

Great story covering 2,500 years. Very educational and well written. A masterpiece from a wonderful writer.

The idea and the coming together of the characters is clever. However, the characters were quite boring. Bit of a forced read after half way through the book

I not sure I've ever read a book (other than Shakespeare) where I slow down my reading so I can savor the cadence and rhythm of the language but I did often with this book. This book is beautifully written, has exquisite and real characters and a story that is both poignant and informative. I am touched deeply.

"Water remembers. It is humans who forget."Even a single raindrop.Thus begins the master storyteller, Elif Shafak's , "There are Rivers in the Sky".When one writes about history, it's a narration of what has been told many times over. The approach of a writer, is what, sets it apart. Here, Elif deploys the journey of a drop of water, to illustrate the times, from the ancient ruins of Nineveh in Mesopotamia to the birth and life of Arthur in Victorian London, to Narin of the Yezdi community, by the river Tigris in Turkey, to Zaleekhah, a hydrologist in London, in 2018.The extensively researched account of each period is an attention holder. The Epic of Gilgamesh, an iconic poem in the Cuneiform script holds centrestage.Woven around them are stories of antiquities, mysticism, cultural appropriation, war, immigration, race conflicts and genocide.Elif Shafak holds one spellbound with her expertise - interspersed are lyrical quotes and elaborate, vivid descriptions of the prevailing atmosphere and settings. A departure from her previous books, this acclaimed top lister, reinforces her stature as a commanding writer.A life philosophy embedded, in her lines from the book -"Go like water, come back like water-freely and easily."Highly recommended.

This novel is beyond anything I’ve ever read, I very much enjoyed reading it. This is not only a joyful piece of fiction yet a piece of literature for human kind. A must read!

As a huge fan of Elif Shafak, i was thrilled to find her latest novel here on Amazon. The book arrived faster than the proposed date.