The two cities are Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, which provide the backdrop for Kassima, a woman who takes to solitude after losing her husband and sons to the terrors of the streets and prison. She may not even be capable of allowing anyone into her life anymore. When she meets Robert Jones, the story of the discoveries of themselves, individually and together, is filtered through a parallel story told by Kassima's elderly tenant Martin.
While it seems conventional by description, "Two Cities" is actually a complicated exercise for the reader: dialogue is not marked by quotation marks, but it is possible to discern who is saying what. Time and narration shift abruptly, though the pattern becomes clear as the stories unfold and eventually meet in a remarkable nexus of emotion. Such technique forces the reader to concentrate to trace the implications of what is being said and who it may affect.
This unusual weave incorporates Wideman's view of fifty years of real events in the two cities, such as the MOVE settlement bombing in Philadelphia, to provide context in which his characters live. In fact it is this raw power of violence that Kassima and Robert struggle against. A seemingly simple confrontation on a basketball court can turn deadly and crush any hopeful sentiment. All the men that Kassima has loved die, and she does not want to invest more unfulfilled emotion in Jones. The specter of death hovers above this novel like a cloud. But Wideman shows where the light may be, and it is enough to believe in.
(Ron Litke)
- "Two Cities"
copyright 1998 New City Communications, Inc.