Properties of Thirst

The Marianne Wiggins novel Properties of Thirst (2022) is set in the early-1940s US during World War II, opening with the bombing of the US naval base at Pearl Harbor. Rockwell “Rocky” Rhodes, the owner of a large estate in California, is estranged from his son, Stryker, whose last-known location was Honolulu, Hawaii, where he was stationed with the navy. Rocky has been engaged in a longtime battle with the city of Los Angeles over water rights. In alternating points of view, the novel tells the story of Rocky’s marriage to his late wife, Lou; the establishment of Manzanar—an internment camp for Japanese Americans—by a government staffer named Schiff; and Schiff’s love for Rocky’s daughter, Sunny, whose curiosity about her late mother has led to her pursuit of mastering high-end cuisine. The novel delves into the strife that develops from familial expectations and the grief that follows death, foregrounding Loss and Remembrance, Legacy and Familial Expectations, and Pursuit of the American Dream as themes.

World War II figures heavily into Wiggins’s previous novels as well, including Evidence of Things Unseen (2003), a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. Author of nine novels and two short story collections, Wiggins has received the Whiting Award, the National Endowment for the Arts Award, and the Janet Heidinger Kafka prize. She wrote Properties of Thirst (after having a stroke in 2016), aided by her daughter, who typed for her (Ciabattari, Jane. “Marianne Wiggins on Completing a Novel.” Literary Hub, 2022).

This guide refers to the 2022 hardcover edition from Simon and Schuster.

Content Warning: The novel refers to death by suicide and racism, and it includes racial slurs to refer to Japanese people, which this guide quotes and obscures.

Plot Summary

The novel opens on December 7, 1941, the day of the bombing of the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, which precipitated full US involvement in World War II. Stryker Rhodes—the son of Rockwell “Rocky” Rhodes and the twin brother of Sunny Rhodes—a naval cadet stationed there, is presumed dead. Rocky is the wealthy owner of a large estate in Lone Pine in the Owens Valley of California that he has named Three Chairs—an allusion to Henry David Thoreau’s Walden Pond cabin. His wife, Lou, died of polio when the twins were children; Rocky’s sister, Caswell “Cas” Rhodes, moved to Three Chairs at that time to help him care for Stryker and Sunny. Stryker later joined the Navy to escape legal repercussions for killing an elephant in town during the filming of a Hollywood film. Since Stryker’s departure, he and Rocky have been estranged and haven’t spoken. Rocky has been in a longtime legal battle with the Los Angeles Department of Water regarding the diverting of water from Owens Valley to the city of Los Angeles.

As the US enters the war, Schiff, a Jewish man who works for the federal government’s Department of the Interior, arrives in Lone Pine to serve as the administrator of Manzanar, the largest internment camp of Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans. Although Schiff morally opposes their imprisonment, he completes the job assigned to him. He falls in love with Sunny after eating in her restaurant, which she named “Lou’s” after her mother. Sunny is engaged to a childhood sweetheart, and Schiff respects this commitment, but he becomes her close friend as she helps out at Manzanar and engages detainees in cooking sessions at Three Chairs. Rocky, though initially dubious of Schiff, fearing he aims to encroach on his estate’s water, comes to admire and respect him, and Schiff often visits Three Chairs. The Rhodes family tries to obtain information about Stryker, but to no avail. Likewise, they’re unable to determine the whereabouts of Stryker’s wife—a woman of Japanese descent—or their twin sons.

The novel delves into various flashbacks, including Sunny’s trip to New York and Paris, during which she honed her knowledge of and appreciation for fine cuisine; her childhood experiences with Stryker; and his incident with the elephant. Additional flashbacks explore Schiff’s experiences as a student in Chicago and then as an employee at the Drake Hotel restaurant; Rocky’s estrangement from his father, a railroad tycoon who opposed Rocky’s move west; and Rocky’s interactions with the Los Angeles Department of Water security guards.

A turning point occurs when Sunny visits her fiancé, Hace, a Mexican migrant worker who recently returned to California. He ends their longtime engagement, revealing that he has committed to another. In her emotional fury, Sunny has an accident in the mountains that leads to hypothermia. In time, her wounds heal, but she sinks into a six-week depression. Soon after, a wealthy rancher named Lyndon Finn approaches Rocky and Cas to propose that they join him in investing in a financial trust to protect the properties and holdings of the interred people, allowing them to keep their holdings during the war. Lyndon and Cas become enamored with one another, developing a romantic relationship. Meanwhile, Sunny withdraws, refusing to leave the house and cutting off contact with Schiff.

Eventually, Sunny resurfaces, only to learn that Schiff has enlisted in the armed forces and will be restationed in Honolulu. Sunny angrily confronts him, and they kiss, entering into a romantic relationship. They exchange frequent letters while Schiff is in Hawaii. There, he seeks out information about Stryker and his wife. He learns that Stryker was certainly killed aboard the ship The Arizona, having indicated his plans to play cards aboard the ship with other naval cadets that day. However, his wife, Suzy, and their twins flew to San Francisco on the day of the bombing, traveling to the home of an aunt of hers there. Government officials immediately seized Suzy and one of the twins upon their arrival, presumably to be interred. The other twin was left with Suzy’s aunt. Schiff can’t obtain any additional information about Suzy or the aunt.

As the war ends, Schiff is sent to Japan. Valued for his law degree, he’s selected to write the nation’s new constitution. While abroad, he receives a telegram from Sunny informing him that Rocky has died and asking him to come right away. Rocky’s death by drowning in the lake at Three Chairs was deemed death by suicide. Unsure of the right words to console Sunny, Schiff doesn’t reply. Time goes by, the war ends, and Schiff returns to California in search of Sunny. He discovers that Three Chairs was sold to the Los Angeles Department of Water, Cas is living elsewhere with Lyndon Flynn, and Sunny has moved to a small town up north. She has adopted an orphan boy from Manzanar and opened another restaurant. Schiff drives north; he and Sunny have an awkward reunion, and their future is left open and unresolved.

The final chapter is presented from Rocky’s point of view just before his death. He mourns the loss of his wife and of Stryker and then contemplates his long battle against the Los Angeles Department of Water, feeling as though he has ultimately lost.