Will and Wisam, two souls as different as can be, meet in the confines of a sterile hospital in Rovshan Abdullaoglu’s spellbinding tale THIS CITY IS EMPTY. Will — from the good old US of A — was a shotgun baby; i.e. the surprise that led to his young parents reluctantly marrying. As a boy, he dreamed of a life in professional sports, mostly as a way of finally attaining his family’s love. Eventually both mother and father head for greener pastures, leaving Willie bereft and alone. So it’s no surprise that when he partners up and has children of his own, this damaged character remains trapped in a bubble of isolation, drifting from job to job until he winds up hired to air out rooms and keep windows, floors, and beds clean at MD Anderson medical facility, dejectedly ancient before his time.

Wisam, on the other hand, is a terminal cancer patient at only 22 years of age whom the rest of the staff designate an ‘angel’ since it’s likely he’s already got one foot stuck in the grave. But Wisam is from Lebanon, and a survivor who happens to know a lot about life and love — lessons the Arab boy is only too pleased to share with his downtrodden American counterpart. Unlike Willie, Wisam grew up well-off, well-educated, and well-loved. Then war arrived, changing everything. Wisam’s father stood accused of a violent crime, with Wisam’s beloved grandfather the presiding judge and Wisam’s life descended into hell from there. But as true friendship begins to blossom, all kinds of miracles occur.

THIS CITY IS EMPTY is at its best when sharing Wisam’s wisdom; profound morels such as: the way to get to know someone is by pulling aside the curtain on their hidden hardships in order to expose the person’s true face, as Wisam does for Willie. Also engaging are instances of spiritual comeuppance (perhaps even transformation) for the power-hungry Dr. Stevens, who never misses an opportunity to abrasively criticize underlings like Willie. Less potent are scenes that seemingly wander, taking too long to elucidate a point. The plot also does on occasion fall prey to didactic sermonizing rather than weaving all messages into the storyline with more effective subtlety.

Overcoming barriers of race, culture, and residue of life’s setbacks — from family abandonment to the perils of war — THIS CITY IS EMPTY by Rovshan Abdullaoglu is a valuable read, even if the novel’s structural soundness sometimes falters.

~C.S. Holmes for IndieReader