Sue Monk Kidd

A Novel

The Book of Longings

"I am Ana. I was the wife of Jesus." So begins the new novel from the number one New York Times bestselling author of The Secret Life of Bees and The Invention of Wings, an extraordinary story set in the first century about a woman who finds her voice and her destiny in a time of great despair and great hope. In her fourth work of fiction, Sue Monk Kidd brings her acclaimed narrative gifts to imagine the story of a young woman named Ana. Raised in a wealthy family in Sepphoris with ties to the ruler of Galilee, she is rebellious and ambitious, a relentless seeker with a brilliant, curious mind and a daring spirit. She yearns for a pursuit worthy of her life, but finds no outlet for her considerable talents. Defying the expectations placed on women, she engages in furtive scholarly pursuits and writes secret narratives about neglected and silenced women. When she meets the eighteen-year-old Jesus, each is drawn to and enriched by the other's spiritual and philosophical ideas. He becomes a floodgate for her intellect, but also the awakener of her heart. Their marriage unfolds with love and conflict, humor and pathos in Nazareth, where Ana makes a home with Jesus, his brothers, James and Simon, and their mother, Mary. Here, Ana's pent-up longings intensify amid the turbulent resistance to the Roman occupation of Israel, partially led by her charismatic adopted brother, Judas. She is sustained by her indomitable aunt Yaltha, who is searching for her long-lost daughter, as well as by other women, including her friend Tabitha, who is sold into slavery after she was raped, and Phasaelis, the shrewd wife of Herod Antipas. Ana's impetuous streak occasionally invites danger. When one such foray forces her to flee Nazareth for her safety shortly before Jesus's public ministry begins, she makes her way with Yaltha to Alexandria, where she eventually finds refuge and purpose in unexpected surroundings. Grounded in meticulous historical research and written with a reverential approach to Jesus's life that focuses on his humanity, The Book of Longings is an inspiring account of one woman's bold struggle to realize the passion and potential inside her, while living in a time, place, and culture devised to silence her.

Ivy Chen

Her mind was an immense feral country that spilled its borders.

Lizzy Jensen

Hyshe Thaufeeg

“I don’t mean that life won’t bring you tragedy. I only mean you will be well in spite of it. There’s a place in you that is inviolate. You’ll find your way there, when you need to. And you’ll know then what I speak of.”

It took me on directions that I didn't expect. And memorable characters. I'm not religious nor am I just retested in Biblical history, but the story is so strong, and feminist focus is powerful. 

Lee Schneider

Elle Geoghegan 

Sara

4.5

Not me crying over a book about Jesus.

(Minor spoilers ahead!)
This book was really really good. While it had it’s faults, I still loved it and was able to connect with it on an emotional level. To be honest, I did not go into this book with high expectations which may be what saved it. Obviously, I know the story of Jesus very well and having lived in Israel I spent extended periods of time in the locations described. I think that these things definitely made it easier for me to be drawn into the world of the book since I know exactly what it feels like to be there. The ending may have been cheesy but sometimes cheesy works, and in this case I totally think it did. Historically, ancient Egypt was a more equal place for women than other societies so I felt it fitting that we ended here. 

The only real complaint I have with the book is the Anglicization of the names. Obviously, the names we now use to refer to Jesus and Mary were not their real names when they were living because they spoke Hebrew and had Jewish names (this is well documented). I understand why Kidd chose to use the Anglicized names for clarity, but I felt that it would have made the world of ancient Judea feel much more alive if she had at least acknowledged this. 

Nonetheless, I felt a deep emotional connection with this book that didn’t really have anything to do with Jesus as a religious figure but as a man who loves his family and his wife. I cried throughout the last 50 pages even though I knew exactly what would happen, which just goes to show that a book doesn’t have to be perfect for it to touch you. Going into the book I was very skeptical about the concept of the wife of Jesus and I found that I did have to suspend my disbelief while reading it, but that was never a distraction. 

So yeah, 4.5 stars which was very unexpected but a welcome surprise.

I loved this book because of my Catholic upbringing; it gave me a new perspective that I enjoyed exploring. 

Daniela O'Malley

Clara Moore

I think an author has to be incredibly bold to take a story like Jesus's and speculate on what happened during parts of his life that we know little about. Kidd does just this but tells it from a completely different perspective. She took a risk but successfully found a niche she could experiment in and the result is this gorgeous book. You can tell she has done her research and also kept the story from overlapping too much with what we do actually know so that her speculations and fictions do not cause discrepancies. It is a smart story, she has done her research, about a time that little is known about what was happening in Jesus's life. A great book to discuss with people from all different religious backgrounds.

Mariane Ferrantino 

I desperately wanted to read this book based solely on the premise of it being about the imagined wife of Jesus. I was raised Catholic and as such, I have a complicated relationship with organized religion. It was a pleasure reading about this strong woman who was an equal to Jesus in so many ways.

Brigid prior 

An absolute masterpiece. The author weaves this fictional story throughout the stories from the Bible so tactfully, it’s hard not to believe them to be true.

Dani Gale

As a feminist raised religious (private, Catholic school 1st-12th), I loved this story. In its essence, it's a prospective book about if Jesus had been married, but it isn't about Jesus. I loved the idea of telling a story about if he had been married, and what his wife would have been like. Ana is everything I love about strong female characters - she faces adversity after adversity, continues to persevere and grow stronger after each one, but also knows that there is always something more she can strive for. I love that while we see bits and pieces of what Jesus may have been like prior to the start of his missionary, the story is still wholly about Ana and her life. Reading this with the knowledge of Jesus that I have from years of Catholic school was very interesting, and also very refreshing.

Cindy Lieberman

Sue Monk Kidd imagines what if Jesus fulfilled the expectations of his family and community and took a wife when he was, say, 20 — a good 10 years before he came to the attention of the Romans as a result of his preaching. What kind of person would he marry? Yet the book is not about Jesus but about Ana - the headstrong and outspoken young woman who loved to read and write, despite being denied a formal education because she was female. The author spent 4 years researching for this book and talks a bit about some of the creative choices she made at the end of the audiobook. I expect a lively book club discussion will follow, especially when comparing this book to Lamb by Christopher Moore.

Melissa Malena 

I can’t recommend this book enough. The writing is gorgeous and getting to see parts of Jesus’ story that we are all so familiar with through a completely human lens is breathtaking. I also loved how despite the premise, this is not Jesus’ story but Ana’s. Her relationships, her struggles, her joys, her longings. I’m going to be thinking about this book for a long time. 

Madeleine Granath

Stunning, heart-wrenching, human. I am in awe.

Nicole Sargent-Carberry

I loved this- I’m not at all religious but I thought this was a great telling of a well known story through a woman’s eyes.

Also- doesn’t present a mystical-being Jesus and I loved that.

I want to live in a world written by Sue Monk Kidd. She gave a beautiful life to Ana, the wife of Jesus. I felt her rage, her grief, her love, and her power. I love that Ana is written as fully human, with flaws like yours and mine. It feels only right that a man as radical as Jesus should be companioned by a woman with a spirit as fierce as Ana’s. My favorite part of this book’s arc is that Kidd shares just enough about Ana’s life with Jesus but focuses the story on her coming to know herself apart from Jesus. “We had our togetherness- why should we not have our separateness?”

THE New York Times BESTSELLER An inspiring story set in the first century AD about a woman who finds her voice and her destiny, from author of The Secret Life of Bees and The Invention of Wings 'Transporting, life-affirming, gripping. It is simply brilliant' Mel Giedroyc 'Fascinating . . . Clever, rebellious Ana is a memorable character' The Times 'Brilliant . . . Brava!" The Daily Mail Ana is born in Galilee at a time when women are seen as possessions, only leaving their fathers' homes to marry. Ana longs to control her destiny. Taught to read despite her mother's misgivings, she wants to be a writer and to find her own voice. A voice that will speak for the silenced women around her. Betrothed to an elderly widower, Ana almost despairs. But an encounter with a charismatic young carpenter in Nazareth awakens new longings in her, and a different future opens up. Yet this is not a simple love story. Ana's journey will bring both joy and tragedy, but it will also be enriched by the female friendships she makes along the way. The Book of Longings is an exquisite tale of dreams and desire, and of the power of women to change the world. 'One of my favourites' Alicia Keys 'I kept having to close this novel and breathe deeply, again and again . . . It is a true masterpiece' Glennon Doyle, author of Untamed 'Unleashes the reader's imagination with glorious evocations of extraordinary times and places, allowing our minds to roam . . . Original, challenging, beautiful' Adele Parks, Platinum 'Compelling . . . Ana is a truly wonderful character, strong and inspiring, and her life story so captivating that it swept me along' Good Housekeeping

From the author of the international bestseller THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES

Summer Stanley

I really enjoyed this. I got wrapped up as if I didn’t already know the story of Jesus’s life. 

My only complaint: I found the start of Ana’s story so engaging, but once she interacted with Jesus, their dynamic became the most interesting part. The sections that focused solely on Ana after they married, I found a little slow and not as important. I hate to admit it; I so wanted to love Ana on her own. 

Alice Foster

Amy Maddess

As you can most likely gather from my progress updates, my experience with this book was a quick descent from confusion to annoyance to disdain. I wonder so thoroughly - what is the point? Have I missed it entirely, or do I understand and am outraged by it? 

It is false and misleading that this book was presented as a novel about the wife of Jesus. The actual time that the two characters spend engaging with one another probably adds up to a total of ten pages throughout the entire book.

The rest of the novel, you ask? What is it about if it is not about what it says it is about on the back of the book? It is about waiting, it is about not acting to change your destiny. It is about accepting that the only escape from cruel patriarchal fate, even in an imagined tale, is luck and deceit. Ana wasn't even really good at deceiving anyone, but because she actually completed this action I will give her that. Besides waiting for men (the book literally states that Ana is like Penelope from The Oddyssey in her largeness because of her capacity to wait...), walking around endlessly, and writing something down once every few years, Ana does not do much. 

The writing is beautiful, of course. Sue Monk Kidd is wise and talented - she just happened to miss the mark for me on this one. I think that when you use religious themes so seriously, there is potential to say a lot and to teach a lot, and Kidd did not seize this potential. I believe she aimed to soothe and to connect to others with her words but she wasn't aiming for revelatory (which this book may have been for the subject matter alone, many years ago, but in current times, when you write a novel based on events that people who believe in Judaism believe happened, you have to be respectful, and you can not waste the opportunity to say and teach something. Sue Monk Kidd did both of these things. I feel like she wanted to be groundbreaking and unique, and thought that the subject matter would do this alone. 

I'm ranting now and I'm very tired and I was kindly given a copy of this book for review so I'll probably stop my review short here but I do plan to come back and edit/clean it up a little. 

Also, if you want to read a book with a religious plot that says something to you, I recommend The Final Testament of the Holy Bible by James Frey.

Maria Luiza

This is by far one of the most beautiful and intense books I have ever read. I highlighted so many passages I can't even choose one to write here. Absolutely beautiful.

Jeremy Anderberg

Great novel, utterly fascinating thought experiment which was undertaken with the utmost care and compassion for the historical figure of Jesus (and those around him). 

Longer review coming. Solid 4 out of 5.

Ruby Huber

I liked this more than I expected, in fact I shed a few tears when Jesus was crucified so that’s a first! I really liked Ana and I was really happy for her by the end there which isn’t something I feel at the end of many books.... truly the only part of this I really objected to was the treatment of the servants(/slaves?) like obviously but also some of them I was like.... why on earth would they put themselves at risk for you literally no way would they be willing to help you be stupid.

Anna

A historical fiction, with themes of the strive for equality and female empowerment. A very thoughtful book that displays the historical struggle women endured. One of my new all time favourite fictions.

Kaylah Rodriguez

You know those books you actually miss after you’re done reading? This is definitely one of those books for me. I finished it about two weeks ago and I still find myself wanting to return to the lives of Ana and Yaltha and all the other wonderful characters in this story. Even after 400+ pages I was sad to put this one down. 

This book was absolutely gorgeous. The atmosphere was so rich - full of textures and scents and papyri and ink. And the unfolding of Ana’s story was captivating from start to finish. While a story about the wife of Jesus, even fictional, is sure to bring up a lot of feelings for many people, I thought SMK portrayed the humanity and character of Jesus in a completely beautiful, respectful way and I loved how she used the framework of that very familiar story to bring in a new perspective. Because this book isn’t really about Jesus, it’s about Ana. And it’s about women. It’s about the longings and largeness inside us and the power of that secret place where we can hold space for both grief and stubborn hope.

Renee Blankenship

Thank you to the publisher for the free review copy! 

"All my life, longings lived inside me, rising up like nocturnes to wail and sing through the night. That my husband bent his heart to mine on our thin straw mat and listened was the kindness I most loved in him. What he heard was my life begging to be born." p. 1

I have been a long time fan of Sue Monk Kidd's, probably since I first read The Secret Life of Bees in high school. Her books have followed me along my reading journey, including recently when I reread both Bees and Invention of Wings. They remained favorites, still. With the anticipation of her newest title The Book of Longings, I found myself staring at it in excitement and also a tiny bit of trepidation. When a beloved author writes a new novel, the anticipation and nervousness of reading feels so heavy! I was anxious to start it as soon as I received my copy from Viking books but equally nervous about it. The story line (Ana, the wife of Jesus) felt so far removed from her other books, what if I didn't like it? 

Ah. I was wrong clearly wrong in that not only did I like it, I LOVED it. True to Kidd's writing, I was immersed completely into this new and very foreign to me time period almost instantly. The book begins with this line: "I am Ana." and doesn't look back. Leaving all of my own expectations regarding my knowledge of the Bible and Jesus aside, I continued reading falling more and more in love with Ana at every page. Her character embarked upon an adventure full of the failings of society at the time to view women as anything other than property. She grasped at each and every opportunity to use her voice and her courage against it. As a young girl, as a betrothed young woman, in her marriage and her life beyond it....each of these iterations of Ana grew upon the previous, leaving us at the end of the story with a truly remarkable woman and character I will not soon forget. 

"When I am dust, sing these words over my bones: she was a voice." p. 13

Have you read a book lately that took you somewhere entirely new and foreign to you? Have you met a character that challenged her world and left you bereft because her story is over? I highly recommend this novel to you if you're looking for a story that will transport you, challenge you to think about a different view of a small slice of Jesus's life (that's what great fiction is for, right?) and leave you chanting for Ava's voice to be heard. 

"To be ignored, to be forgotten, this was the worst sadness of all. I swore an oath to set down their accomplishments and praise their flourishings, no matter how small. I would be a chronicler of lost stories." p. 5

"Yet a thought pushed into my mind, a sense that he was as wondrous as inks and papyrus, that he was as vast as words. That he could set me free." p. 37

"For a woman to birth something other than children and then mother it with the same sense of purpose, attention and care came as an astonishment, even to me." p. 197

From the Author of the International Bestseller the SECRET LIFE of BEES

Book of Longings

Jane Krauss

Part of me didn't want to like this book as it is written from the POV of Anna, the wife of Jesus. There are a lot of historical inaccuracies (OBVIOUSLY), but the narrative gripped me. However, the description uses aspects of modern Judaism and places it in Second Temple Judaism, which doesn't quite work. 

Step aside The Da Vinci Code, this book takes the cake of being very sacrilegious. Using the historical aspects of the New Testament story of Jesus, the book sets him as a man searching for a father figure and his wife who he abandons. I feel conflicted because the writing is so well done, but the whole story is ... 

If I weren't so invested in the story, I probably would have given it a lower rating and probably would have stopped reading it. But the story was done so well. I needed to finish it. I just had to know what happened and how the author used the story of the New Testament. Seeing a fictional female’s perspective of the first century Israel was fascinating. 

The author notes gave a lot of perspective to this idea of Jesus having a wife. She brings some intense arguments. Without her notes, many people would probably go wild as they did with The Da Vinci Code. The author needed readers to know why she wrote the human Jesus in such away. To see many of that time, it was a perspective they would have seen at the time of his life.

The Book of Longings A Novel

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