The internationally bestselling, deeply beloved author and activist joins us to share the story of one lost poem, two great rivers, and three remarkable lives – all connected by a single drop of water.

‘Make place for Elif Shafak on your bookshelf. Make place for her in your heart too. You won’t regret it.’ – Arundhati Roy

Renowned not only in her native Turkey and her adopted home of Britain, but across the globe, Elif Shafak is an author whose novels succeed where so many others fail: enchanting the spirit and the senses, stirring the heart, and making us think deeply about the great themes of human life, all at the same time.

Following the Sunday Times bestseller The Island of Missing Trees and the Booker-listed 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World comes There Are Rivers in the Sky: a sweeping story that spans centuries, continents, and cultures, entwined by rivers, rains, and waterdrops.

In the ruins of Nineveh, that ancient city of Mesopotamia, there lies hidden in the sand fragments of a long-forgotten poem, the Epic of Gilgamesh.

In Victorian London, an extraordinary child is born at the edge of the dirt-black Thames. Arthur’s only chance of escaping poverty is his brilliant memory. When his gift earns him a spot as an apprentice at a printing press, Arthur’s world opens up far beyond the slums, with one book soon sending him across the seas: Nineveh and Its Remains.

In 2014 Turkey, Narin, a Yazidi girl living by the River Tigris, waits to be baptised with water brought from the holy site of Lalish in Iraq. The ceremony is cruelly interrupted, and soon Narin and her grandmother must journey across war-torn lands in the hope of reaching the sacred valley of their people.

In 2018 London, broken-hearted Zaleekhah, a hydrologist, moves to a houseboat on the Thames to escape the wreckage of her marriage. Zaleekhah foresees a life drained of all love and meaning – until an unexpected connection to her homeland changes everything.

‘Water remembers. It is humans who forget.’

Don’t miss this chance to join one of the most widely celebrated and accomplished authors of our time.

Tickets to this event are half price for members to How To +, and members can also watch the livestream of the London event for free.