Properties of Thirst

By: Marianne Wiggins

Narrated by: Stephen Graybill, Gabra Zackman

A National Bestseller
A New Yorker Best Book of 2022

Fifteen years after the publication of Evidence of Things Unseen, National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize finalist Marianne Wiggins returns with a “big, bold book” (USA TODAY) destined to be an American classic: a sweeping masterwork set during World War II about the meaning of family and the limitations of the American Dream.

Rockwell “Rocky” Rhodes has spent years fiercely protecting his California ranch from the LA Water Corporation. It is here where he and his beloved wife Lou raised their twins, Sunny and Stryker, and it is here where Rocky has mourned Lou in the years since her death.

As Sunny and Stryker reach the cusp of adulthood, the country teeters on the brink of war. Stryker decides to join the fight, deploying to Pearl Harbor not long before the bombs strike. Soon, Rocky and his family find themselves facing yet another incomprehensible tragedy.

Rocky is determined to protect his remaining family and the land where they’ve loved and lost so much. But when the government decides to build a Japanese American internment camp next to the ranch, Rocky realizes that the land faces even bigger threats than the LA watermen he’s battled for years. Complicating matters is the fact that the idealistic Department of the Interior man assigned to build the camp, who only begins to understand the horror of his task after it may be too late, becomes infatuated with Sunny and entangled with the Rhodes family.

Properties of Thirst is a “magnificent” (Colum McCann) novel that is both universal and intimate. It is the story of a changing American landscape and an examination of one of the darkest periods in this country’s past, told through the stories of the individual loves and losses that weave together to form the fabric of our shared history. Ultimately, it is an unflinching distillation of our nation’s essence—and a celebration of the bonds of love and family that persist against all odds.

Critic reviews

"The consistent, fluid, and engrossing nature of this majestic novel is rendered even more remarkable by the fact that it was completed after the author suffered a massive stroke in 2016. Set in California during WWII, when Japanese–Americans were being interned by the U.S. Government, this ambitious saga of family, romance, and grief is poignantly narrated by Gabra Zackman and Stephen Greybill."

Wonderful book

Loved this book. Loved the historical content especially since I live in Los Angeles. What rich characters and the writing is exceptional.

Properties is a must read

From the 1st paragraph I found this story thoroughly engaging. I read & listened. I like its shining a light on the Japanese enterment camps though such a sad part of our history. Because I love cooking, the descriptions of that and especially the role food played in the lives of the Japanese came alive for me. At the same time it's heartbreaking and hopeful.

Properties of Thirst

I enjoyed this book and the reading very much. I had a little trouble with the writing style in the beginning but fell in love with the characters pretty quickly.

Captivated

This was my first book by Marianne Wiggins. I will certainly read more. The dialogue, in depth of characters were captivating.

4+* CA & the Sierra Nevada Mountains

I am familiar with the beauty and isolation of this CA splendor. The mountains lift off the ground and the people who live there preserve the magic. I have been to the places described in the storytelling and have had good friends share thier long history of living in the mountains. The author was able to write a first hand or witness account of life before and after Pearl Harbor . The characters, twin relationships, Trauma bonds, family are described with an abundance of empathy . This novel, even if it was a bit wordy, is worth reading. I felt that the author stopped time on The Day of Infamy.