"There Are Rivers in the Sky"
by Elif Shafak.
Overall.
The Goodreads link takes you to an excellent synopsis of the plot, which, in turn,
cleverly integrates Ancient Ninevah, Victorian London, Modern Turkey and Modern London via a meme which is a single drop of water that is imagined to exist across space and time.
The Epic of Gilgamesh is woven into the whole story and becomes the underlying anchor.
The structure then becomes quite complex, switching locales / characters at the whim of the author,
and creating tension in the reader much the same way as Dickens’s serialised stories would take the reader to a point of suspense, and leave them there.
The characters and relationships are well depicted.
The book was generally well received.
Various detailed comments from club members were noted including:
Positive.
- Well researched and clever.
- Beautifully written and translated, but poor use of punctuation, and another irritating simile.
- Enjoyed the multiple story arcs.
Negative.
- The book finished in a rush as if the author’s page-budget had been exceeded.
- Disliked the multiple story arcs.
- The sheer volume of embedded history was a distraction
- Verbosity got in the way of the story.
Interesting.
- The resonance with Macfarlane’s “Is A River Alive” was noted.
- Haven't finished the book but I am enjoying it - well written and an interesting way of writing - reminds me of French knitting with a cotton reel and 4 nails
- Can a raindrop remember?
- Should this have been 3 shorter books?
"Brownie Points" awarded:
- Gwynneth for bringing cuneiform biscuits to reflect the exact treat that Nen took to Zaleekhah.
- Cath: for attending the book launch (Shafak is her favourite author)
Doorly score: 4.25
PC. September 2026
The Epic of Gilgamesh.
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