Elif Shafak's New Novel, Jane Eyre and Woke Culture

By Dana Brown

Hello and happy Sunday!

Elif Shafak

released a new book at the beginning of the month, and this week, I was able to buy it from a physical bookstore in my hometown in Romania. No matter how much technology advances and how we interact with content, especially digital books, there is nothing quite like the feeling I experienced when I held a physical copy of the book. The shop assistant felt my giddiness and was smiling throughout the transaction.

We decided months ago in Dana’s Book Club when the book was announced that once There Are Rivers In The Sky is out, it will be our August read. I started it almost as soon as I got home. I’m 100 pages in, and I can’t get over how beautifully it reads; I am highlighting every other paragraph and reading sentences multiple times, trying to imbue myself with the sensations it depicts. I missed Elif’s writing, and although I can always just reread the books on my shelf by her(all with a dedication from the author herself), there’s something fresh and refreshing when I think these words were not arranged on the page like this until weeks ago.

For various administrative reasons, our book discussion isn’t until October. I may just read this book twice before then!

We are drawn to the kind of stories that are already present within us, germinating and pushing their way through to the surface, like seeds ready to sprout at the first hint of sun.

There Are Rivers In The Sky, page 234

Jane Eyre and Woke Culture