No More Empty Spaces: A Novel

(Paperback)

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Its 1973 and Will Ross, a divorced American geologist, has signed on to work on a troubled dam in a remote, rugged part of Turkey. He decides to take his children with him, but they think theyre only going for their usual two-week stint of shared custody, not to live there. Once in Turkey, Will struggles for controlof his family, his work, the landscape the dam is to be built on, and, ultimately, himself. Alongside these emotional conflicts, he, his children, and everyone else involved in the dam face powerful external forcesof erosion, dissolution, landslides, and earthquakes. Whether they let themselves see it or not, natural hazards impact their lives every day. And so do their intractable human natures. Science can help them understand those forces and engineering can help control them, but each character gradually comes to realize that the landscape they stand upon, and the landscapes of their lives, will shift and shake regardless of the choices they make. The question, then, is: how will they respond

Timely and gripping, No More Empty Spaces will make you think about how you relate to yourself, your family, and the Earth and its ever-changing processes.

Reviews

"No More Empty Spaces is an excellent debut--straightforward and yet deceptively complex as it situates its multilayered narratives between the competing forces of nature, both human and geological, over time. Green's depictions of the rugged and earthquake-prone Anatolian Mountain region of Turkey evoke a dangerously shifting landscape every bit as unstable and unpredictable as the broken American family that seeks to heal itself there."
--James Anderson, author of The Never-Open Desert Diner and Lullaby Road

"Love is never simple. If we do it right, it costs everything. This sensitive, probing novel made me rethink what it means to have mastery: in a discipline; in a relationship; ultimately, over our own flawed selves. These characters battle it out and emerge transformed, learning to trust one another to fill the cracks and empty spaces life doles out. The rich science and evocative landscapes drew me in, but I stayed for the Ross family. I'm glad I did."
--Summer Wood, author of Arroyo and Raising Wrecker

"No More Empty Spaces is a wonderful read, with some of the best prose I've seen regarding the intractable forces of nature. This struggling blended family faces every kind of overwhelming challenge, from love to liquor to the great dam at Kayakale in Turkey. The book made me want to go there and see this extraordinary landscape for myself!"
--A. R. Taylor, author of Jenna Takes the Fall and Call Me When You're Dead

Author Bio

D. J. Green is a writer, geologist, and sailor. No More Empty Spaces is her first novel. She lives near the Sandia Mountains in Placitas, New Mexico, and cruises the Salish Sea on her sailboat during the summers.