The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons Barron’s own blog.

Properties of Thirst by Marianne Wiggins is a mighty book, in length (544 pages) and in the majesty of the natural world that is its backdrop.  The writing is often captivatingly poetic and deeply philosophical. Each of the major characters is sui generis and memorable. The sometimes stream-of-consciousness method giving voice to each of their perspectives is laced with humor, often dark.  And the conclusion will leave you thirsting for what the next, unwritten chapter might be.

Briefly, the narrative is launched in 1941 after Pearl Harbor. An Interior Department lawyer named Schiff is tasked with designing and building Manzanar, a Japanese internment camp in a valley north of Los Angeles. A Jew born in Chicago, he is an intellectual and a humanist who understands the violative nature of the policy and seeks to soften its sharpest blows. But, for Schiff, it is the war against Hitler that ultimately drives him to sign up for active military duty.

The internment camp’s immediate neighbor, an iconoclastic Manhattan transplant, is Rockwell (Rocky) Rhodes who has built an enormous ranch (named “Three Chairs”) in defiance of his railroad tycoon father’s East Coast status and wealth. Rocky is in an existential battle with the predatory Los Angeles Water Corporation diverting water to support its growing population (humorously and savagely exemplified by film makers who visit the ranch periodically to make movies on location.)

Rocky’s wife, Lou, was a doctor caring for indigenous people and also a gourmet cook. After her death from polio, her cookbooks pass down to her daughter Sunny, an independent young woman who opens a small restaurant in nearby Lone Pine to carry on her mother’s tradition. Schiff is romantically drawn to Sunny. Her twin brother, Stryker, is a pusher of boundaries, who enlists in the Navy and, sadly, is based at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. For the reader, Stryker exists only as he is recalled by the other characters. Particularly memorable is Cas, Rocky’s unmarried twin sister, who leaves her musical career as a harpist in Europe to move to the ranch to care for Sunny and Stryker when Lou dies. Like Rocky, Cas is towering in height, but she is off-putting as a rough-hewn spinster.

The narrative is driven not just by the force of personalities but by power clashes: Rocky’s lifelong battle against the L.A. water authorities who divert the water crucial to the survival of Owens Valley; Schiff’s struggle between carrying out his government responsibilities and his personal mission to treat the 10,000 wronged Japanese internees as fairly as possible within the unconstitutional mandate imposed in the name of national security; Sunny’s struggle to create beauty in a harsh world thrust upon her by loss after loss; Cas’s friction with people disdaining her because of her looming and unattractive appearance. Tension builds when rigid bureaucracy fails to provide information about Stryker’s death and the whereabouts of his Japanese wife and two children. There are minor characters too, each drawn with clarity and revealing some truth about human nature.

There is love, loss, war, murder, wealth, injustice, resilience and more, all reflecting the breadth of the human experience. The metaphor of thirst is woven throughout: thirst for water, thirst for power, thirst for love, thirst for freedom. Prior to completing the book, author Wiggins had a massive stroke. Over three years, it was completed with the help and persistence of her daughter, photographer Lara Porzak. In the end, the reader is left to ponder: will the mysterious shooter ever be found and held accountable? Will Sunny be reunited with Schiff after the war? Will Cas find lasting love? Will the beloved family ranch be able to survive? Can an individual stand up to government power and prevail?

There are moments when Wiggins belabors certain details, especially around food and the recipes for preparing it, but the memorable characters, beautiful writing, striking landscape and contemporary relevance make Properties of Thirst exceedingly well worth the immersion.