Author: Elif Shafak
Publication Information: Knopf. 2024. 464 pages.
ISBN: 0593801717 / 978-0593801710
Rating: ★★★★★
Book Source: I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.
Opening Sentence: "Later, when the storm has passed, everyone will talk about the destruction and left behind, though no one, not even the king himself, will remember that it all began with a single raindrop."
Favorite Quote: "One must walk the Earth with wonder, or it is full of miracles yet to be witnessed."
Elif Shafak is an author who has long been on my list to read. She was born in France, grew up in Turkey, has studied and taught in the United Stated, and, since 2013, calls Britain home. She holds a PhD in political science, known for her outspoken political views. She writes as a journalist and has published fiction and nonfiction works. This is her latest release.
"Water remembers. It is humans who forget." Through a drop of water, this book traverses centuries from ancient Mesopotamia to modern day London, from the Tigris River to the Thames, and from an emperor to a boy born into poverty and abuse, a girl born into illness and genocide, and a woman contemplating suicide.
The book begins with a brief glimpse of ancient Mesopotamia, where a cruel king builds an unbelievable library which is lost with his reign.
In the 1800s, Arthur is born on the side of the road, with no prospects beyond poverty and abuse but with a talent. Helpers and mentors enable him to grow into a life beyond any he could have imagined. It takes him from the sewers of London to the drawing rooms of London and eventually on a quest to Tigris River.
In the same location in 2014, we meet Narin. Through her eyes, we see the genocide of the Yazidi people along the banks of the Tigris River. We also see the love of family and the strength of traditions passed down generation to generation.
The present day of 2018 brings us back to London, the child of an immigrant family who is challenging the expectations of family. She is at a crossroads and considering some extreme alternatives.
The story of these seemingly disconnected people flows seamlessly together. The individual character develop and become real, but the real heart of the book, more than the plot, are the ideas that shine through these characters. The idea that a drop of water can unify us across time and place. The idea that talent and perseverance can overcome the hurdles of poverty. The idea that a mentor has the potential to change lives. The idea that a single action can have ripples across centuries. The damage of imperialism. The horror of religious intolerance and genocide. The plight of a child caught up in such a conflict. The love of family. The power of memory. The memory of the land. The immigrant experience. And so many more.
Through the entire book come life views and thoughts that I find myself furiously underlining passages. I put one passage under "favorite quote" above, but this book has so many I want to contemplate and remember. Here is a sample:
- "He did not see that the only way to become immortal is to be remembered after you have gone, and the only way to be remembered is to leave behind a good story."
- "We never want our parents weaknesses to be seen by others. Their failures are our own private affair, a secret we would rather keep to ourselves; when they become public, for everyone's consumption, we are no longer the children we once were."
- "If, as the poets say, the journey of life resembles the march of rivers to the sea, at times meandering, aimlessly, at times, purposeful and unswerving, the bend in the flow is where the story takes a sudden turn, winding away from its predicted course into a fresh and unexpected direction."
- "Being an outsider is all about survival, and no one survives by being unambitious; no one gets ahead by holding back."
- "The making of a new self requires the unmaking of an old one."
- "I want you to be very successful. Remember, people like us cannot afford to fail "People like us"… immigrants, exiles, refugees, newcomers, outsiders… Too many words for a shared, recognizable sentiment that, no matter how often described, remains largely undefined. Children of uprooted parents are born into the memory tribe. Both their present and their future are forever shaped by their ancestral past, regardless of whether they have any knowledge of it. If they flourish and prosper, their achievements will be attributed to a whole community; and, in the same way, their failures will be charged up to something bigger and older than themselves, be it family, religion, or ethnicity. While the journey of life may be full of reversals of fortune, children from displaced families can never allow themselves to fall below the level at which their parents started it out."
- "Anyone can wait for, for maintaining peace is a difficult thing."
- "The divisions that make up class are, intrude, the borders on a map. When you were born into wealth and privilege, you inherit a plan that outlines the paths ahead, indicating the shortcuts and highways available to reach your destination, informing you of the lush valleys where you may rest and the tricky terrain to avoid. If you enter the world without such a map, you are bereft of proper guidance. You lose your way more easily, trying to pass through what you thought or orchards and gardens, only to discover they are marshlands and peat bogs."
- "Why are women left out of history? Why do we have to piece their stories back together from fragments - like broken shards of pottery?"
- "Home is where your absence is felt, the echo of your voice kept alive, no matter how long you have been away or how far you may have strayed, a place that still beats with the pulse of your heart."
- "Civilization is the name we give to what little we have salvaged from a loss that no one wants to remember. Triumphs are erected upon the jerry-built scaffolding of brutalities untold, heroic legends spun from the thread of aggressions and atrocities."
- "How strange it is to have carried your convictions like a set of keys, only to realize they will not open any doors."
- "How can anyone assume they will please the Creator by hurting his Creation?"
I will leave with a description of the impact of this book with words from the book itself. "Words are like birds… When you publish books, you are setting caged birds, free. They can go wherever they please. They can fly over the high walls and across vast senses, settling in the mansions of the gentry, in farmsteads and laborers cottages alike. You never know whom those words will reach, whose hearts will to come to their sweet songs." I am so glad this book reached me, and I finally read this author. I look forward to reading more.
Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.
