Elif Shafak, the acclaimed author of ‘There are Rivers in the Sky,’ weaves a tapestry of memory, migration, and storytelling in her latest novel. The book’s exploration of the enduring power of rivers as symbols of both connection and loss resonates deeply with Shafak’s own experiences, mirroring the journey of her paternal grandfather who left his beloved village in Pakistan, forever carrying the memory of the Chenab and Jhelum rivers within him.
Shafak’s narrative follows three protagonists across time and space, each connected by a single drop of water: Arthur, a child with extraordinary memory born in 1840s London; Narin, a Yazidi girl fleeing war-torn Turkey in 2014; and Zaleekhah, a London-based hydrologist grappling with heartbreak in 2018. This intricate weaving of lives and eras reflects Shafak’s own nomadic existence, born in France, raised in Turkey, and having lived in Spain, Germany, America, and now London.
The author’s connection to her Turkish heritage is deeply intertwined with her passion for preserving history and oral traditions. She acknowledges the pervasive ‘collective amnesia’ that often overshadows the voices of women and marginalized communities in her homeland. Shafak’s quest to uncover these forgotten narratives led her to delve into the stories of her grandmother, a healer who shared tales of Anatolia, Asia Minor, the Middle East, and the Balkans, filling her childhood with rich cultural tapestry.
This pursuit of forgotten voices resonates with Shafak’s own work on the 1947 Partition of India, where she emphasizes the importance of remembering the individual stories of pain and resilience beyond the official narratives of violence and loss. For her, the memory of home and migration is deeply embedded in language, both spoken and unspoken, creating a complex tapestry of identity. She candidly discusses her shift from writing in Turkish to English, a transition that garnered criticism but allowed her a more objective perspective on her own culture.
Shafak’s writing style, a harmonious blend of Western literary traditions and Eastern storytelling, reflects her embrace of multiple identities and landscapes. She believes in the transformative power of fiction, allowing writers to embody different selves and worlds with fluidity, creating a ‘portable homeland’ of stories that transcend physical boundaries. Her work resonates with readers across cultures, inviting them to explore the depths of shared human experiences through the lens of personal and collective memory.
