No More Empty Spaces: A Novel

It’s 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 they’re only going for their usual two-week stint of shared custody, not to live there. Once in Turkey, Will struggles for control—of 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 forces—of 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.
In this timely story of how science impacts our daily lives—even if we try to close our eyes to it—divorced American geologist Will Ross uproots his children from home and takes them to Turkey, where he is to help build Kayakale Dam. But the earthquake-prone region where the dam is to be built is a dangerously shifting landscape—every bit as unstable as the broken American family that seeks to heal itself there.