Book Club Discussion Questions
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Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!
- At the beginning of each chapter, the character in whose point of view it is told is represented by a chemical symbol: H or O. How do you interpret the assignment of Arthur as O and Narin and Zaleekhah as Hs (creating a complete H2O molecule)?
- Arthur is responsible for uncovering a great epic story, and the tone of his own narrative is laced with an epic story of his own. What other legends does his story bring to mind, including via his grandiose name, King Arthur Smyth of the Sewers and Slums?
- How is Arthur shaped by his early days working at the printing shop? How does this exposure to stories—and responsible, loving adults—motivate him to expand his worldview and ambitions? Consider not only his discovery of the book Nineveh and Its Remains but also his relationship with Mr. Bradbury, and how his employment affected his family life.
- What traumas from home does Arthur seek to rid himself of in his travels and academic pursuits—both as a child and as a husband and father? How is he like the hero Gilgamesh he dedicates his life to?
- How do Arthur and Zaleekhah compare in their academic approach to the study of water? Consider Zaleekhah's notion that "women are expected to be like rivers—readjusting, shapeshifting" (p. 185). Whose revelations stand to make a bigger impact on society—the discovery of the Epic of Gilgamesh or the underground rivers that have been buried for ages? Are these true "discoveries" or more like remembrances of something water has helped preserve?
- Discuss the backlash that Zaleekhah and her professor's research on water receives from the academic community—and her own husband. How does this compare with the reception of Arthur's discovery of the poem? What might this suggest about the power of rewriting established narratives—whether the Bible or science?
- Water carries memories—and diseases—throughout the book. How does water both absolve and contaminate the characters' relationships (Arthur and his brother and mother; Zaleekhah and her husband and Nen; Narin and her grandmother Leila), and what does Zaleekhah's research prove about the persistence of this fact? Consider her modern-day statistic that "in merely a few decades, one in four children across the world will be living in places where the water is so polluted that drinking it will kill them" (p. 363). What do you think that statistic was for those living along the Thames in Arthur's time?
- Why do you think Arthur chose not to return to England for his mother's funeral? Do you think their last visit, when he leaves her the lamassu for protection, was satisfactory "closure" for his lifetime of guilt? What aspect of their relationship does he take with him on his adventures to Nineveh?
- Discuss the erasure of Nisaba's mythology and the way that the "water-dowsers" in Narin's family are treated. How might Narin's family—in the present and her ancestors—have fared differently if the women's visions were heeded or allowed to be cultivated? Do you think it was wise for them to be cautious about how the gift is passed down among generations?
- How would Arthur's life had been different if Leila was still alive when he returned to Nineveh—and if he himself survived the trip? Consider the ripple effect of that hypothetical event on the other main characters of the book.
- What is threatening to Uncle Malek about Zaleekhah's divorce and, later, her relationship with Nen?
- Persecution of the Yazidi people persists from Arthur's time to the present, with Narin's and her family's capture. Compare the scenes of Narin's abuse by ISIS with what we can infer happened to Leila in the 1800s. What does this suggest about how much human society has "evolved," if such prejudice still exists unchanged?
- What groups pose the biggest threat to colonizing powers in the book (namely, the British)? Consider each of the characters' narratives and how dominant cultures, religions, and political parties assert their power over minorities and those considered to be "other."
- How did you feel about Zaleekhah's intervention in rescuing Narin from ISIS? Did this remind you of any other earlier historical events in the book, or information you've learned about in the news?
- Were you surprised by how all three narratives wove together in the end via Leila and Narin? What does this suggest about the power that women hold in the novel as it pertains to water and societies that revere it?
- "Remember, my heart. Story-time is different from clock-time," Narin's grandmother says (p. 236). How is this concept reflected in the interwoven narratives of this novel? Do the characters exist and communicate in the same "story-time," although they live in different "clock-times"? What allows this to happen?
- Arthur thinks: "We carve our dreams into objects, large or small. The emotions we hold but fail to honor, we try to express through the things we create, trusting that they will outlive us when we are gone, trusting that they will carry something of us through the layers of time, like water seeping through rocks. It is our way of saying to the next generations, those we will never get to meet, 'Remember us'" (p. 418). What objects carry the characters' emotions throughout the book—and time? How are they passed on? What object would you want to leave to your descendants, or future generations, to share
and express your humanity?
- Are there parts of the world that you feel drawn to with the same passion as Arthur to Nineveh? Consider your own family's background as well as books and art that inspire you.
- Toward the end of the book, there is a timeline that shows the evolution and travel of individual drops of water through the characters' lives and historical moments. Are there ways in which you can see similar connections in your life? Have you ever considered the water molecules, or other elements of nature, that have passed through other beings to get to you? How might this show up in your own family lineage in terms of skills, beliefs, or personalities that have been reincarnated through time?
- How does the final invocation of the book, declaring it the work of "a junior scribe" asking to be remembered, and offering praise to the forgotten goddess Nisaba, situate this novel in the history of storytelling that the book explores? What drops of water does Elif Shafak connect in her work?
Suggested Further Reading
Epic of Gilgamesh
The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Basho
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney
North Woods by Daniel Mason
The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson
The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak
Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Knopf.
Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.
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