The Water Factor
by Marilynne EichingerSeries: A Rightfully Mine NovelThrillerBook Overview
The Water Factor by Marilynne EichingerThe novel opens dramatically in the year 2039 with James Hokama Byrne leading a team to steal water trucks and take them to the Chekesuwand reservation where his grandparents live. James lives in Portland with his mother, an Indigenous doctor, and his father, an Irish-American lawyer. The story then turns to his high school graduation in 2028 and traces the events leading up to the opening scene and its aftermath.
James begins work as a truck driver for Glacier Oceanide. This private, for-profit company purifies and sells water (bottled and as a commodity). James believes he will be helping people made destitute by severe drought brought on by global climate change. When his employer transfers him to Ethiopia, he learns that, far from helping the poor, the company reaps windfall profits by exploiting a limited resource and corrupting the would-be regulators.
James survives dust storms, kidnappings, fires, attempts on his life, and love affairs. On his return from Ethiopia, he he quits his job and goes by Hokama, meaning the guide. It’s the name his grandfather, Chief Tahoma-Kiche, gave him when he was nine.
Still, he is horrified to learn that Chekesuwand and other reservations have contracted with Glacier Oceanide to manage their aquifers and water supplies. James enrolls in college, and the story shifts to the perspectives of others, including Aaron Gooding, Glacier Oceanide’s second-in-command. The company’s founder dies and is succeeded by his unscrupulous nephew, Matt Dunlap, who bullies Aaron into complying with illegal activities and underhanded business practices.
After his graduation, Hokama incorporated an environmental nonprofit called Rightfully Mine with an education mission. It operates Antheia, an underground group of activists to fight for environmental justice and the return of water rights to their rightful owners. The story asks what it takes to turn someone into an activist and how far they should go to set a wrong to a right.
