There Are Rivers in the Sky

Spanning different eras, locations, and circumstances, the stories of the three protagonists in There Are Rivers in the Sky nevertheless contain a number of parallels and connections. Shafak primarily forges these connections using water, with each storyline taking place in proximity to a river and each protagonist sharing a strong, personal bond with water. A single drop of water, evaporated and reconstituted many times over centuries, witnesses the lives of all the novel’s central characters. Water thus serves as a motif representing the interconnectedness of all life and the cycles of loss and renewal that constitute history. 

Some of the connections that exist between Arthur, Narin, and Zaleekhah, are created in service of the plot. The same drop of water witnesses momentous events in each character’s life. Arthur’s birth and his arrival in Constantinople for the first time are both welcomed by the same droplet of water that is later intended for Narin’s baptism, and which she eventually consumes atop Mount Sinjar when fleeing ISIS. Zaleekhah sheds this droplet as a tear aboard the houseboat when she first moves in. Shafak uses the physical qualities of water to her metaphorical advantage.