Thirst: A Novel

by A.G. Mojtabai

As A.G. Mojtabai's Thirst opens, Lena has been summoned to the bedside of her ailing "brother" Theo, an aging country priest who has started to refuse food and drink. What Lena faces is complicated by the fact that she left the faith long ago.

First cousins and closest childhood friends, Theo and Lena were raised in a small Catholic farming community in Texas, named for the village their parents left behind in Germany, a place where all questions, asked and unasked, were answered for all time. The known world was bounded by the iron fence of the parish cemetery containing nearly all their dead. Beyond it lurked disorder, the dragons of unbelief.

Now faced with the mysteries of mortality and loss, both are struggling to come to terms with the choices that have defined them.

Thirst is a book hard to classify--a novella, certainly, but it is also in part a tone poem, a contemporary book of hours, and a meditation engaging issues of faith and doubt, death and healing.

Roger Rosenblatt has said of A.G. "It is rare to find a gorgeous stylist and a writer of substance yoked in the same artist. Her work shows heart and unsentimental kindness that leaves the reader enlightened and wiser."

Genres: Fiction

Kindle Edition

Published February 9, 2021

About the author

Education: Columbia University (1970), Columbia University (1968)

Awards: Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts, US & Canada

(from Google)

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have no idea how this author is not more widely read. I was blown away by this small book. It feels like a classic work of literature. It follows the story of Lena and Theo. Theo is a priest who has shut himself up in his house and decided to die. Lena is an unbeliever and comes to his side in an attempt to save him. The novella is understated, simple, and beautiful. The characters comes alive and feel like real people.

I found this book profoundly beautiful. It made me think and reflect on the characters and themes. Days after finishing it I found my mind wandering back to the book.

Don't read this if you are expecting an exciting plot, or a clear "message."

Do read it if you want a meditation with strong characters on faith, doubt, and death. Especially read it if you are a fan of books that are closer to "literature."

[Cynthia Brown]

Lovely and thought-provoking book following the dying and death of a priest and his non-religious cousin who cares for him. It sounds sad, but it isn't. Everything about the book is understated, and yet it prompts us to consider our own thoughts on mortality and the nature of family.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a beautiful book! A meditation on faith, relationships, and our deepest human questions. Plus, the writing is beyond gorgeous. Highly recommend.

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[MJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow. powerful.