Properties of Thirst

The setting and circumstances of this book were new to me and pulled me right in: the Owens Valley in California during World War II, when the government co-opted the farmers' use of water to send it to Los Angeles and at the same time created in the once-bountiful valley an internment camp for Japanese Americans. The main characters are members of a farming family plus the man who was tasked with setting up the camp, even though he didn't approve of this treatment of the Japanese people. Wiggins made me care about these people and wonder how they would… show more.

A rich and powerful portrayal of the complexities of family and loyalty in the Owens Valley of California during World War II when the Manzanar Internment Camp was established to detain Japanese-American citizens. The characters are vivid; the choices they must make aren't simple; the prose is beautiful. This is a book I'll be thinking about, and recommending, for a long time.

I heard of this book from a neighbor, and now I’m telling everyone to read it.

This is a historical fiction set in California, where I live, and it has wonderful, diverse, complex characters. A family saga infused with the landscape of the Eastern Sierras and its water wars, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the WWII internment of Japanese Americans, and gourmet French cuisine.

The book had amazing prose that took my breath away on every page. This novel prompted me to travel to the museum at Manzanar, the former Japanese internment camp, which is well worth visiting. 

The story… show more.