The Book of Longings

 

Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd. New York: Viking, 407 pages. ***** Author's Note.

Ana, daughter of Matthias, is fourteen years old and longs to write and be a scribe. He father indulges her and she writes the stories of the women in the scriptures and the women she knows. "To be ignored, to be forgotten, this was the worst sadness of all." It is 16-17 CE in Sepphoris and women have no place in the city other than to procreate and be submissive to their husbands. Ana is betrothed to Nathaniel ben Hananiah, an old widower with daughters, who wants a son and is willing to make a deal to get one. When Ana meets eighteen-year-old Jesus in the marketplace, her feelings of longing change and she finds an ally in her fearless aunt, Yaltha and her brother Judas. Due to a set of unforeseen circumstances, Ana marries Jesus the carpenter and lives with his family in Nazareth. Theirs is a marriage of love and conflict within her family and his. Ana coming from a home of privilege and wealth is unprepared to live in such poverty and close quarters with Jesus' mother and his brothers and their growing families. Performing daily chores is challenging and new to her. Jesus travels to work and feed his family and Ana is left behind longing to write and capture the lives of the women who are thought to be insignificant.   

This book was praised and vilified in some of the book Facebook Groups I participate in so I put it on reserve at my local library at the beginning of the pandemic. (When there is a controversy surrounding a book, I like to read it and decide for myself) I have enjoyed her other books and didn't even know what this one was about until it became available for me. I started it on a Thursday afternoon and finished it Friday afternoon. I loved it! I have read some of the negative reviews on Amazon and am still puzzled by their critical comments.  Make no mistake; it is a work of fiction. It is a "what if" kind of book...what if Jesus was married...what would his wife be like...how would he be as a husband? Kidd admits to taking liberties with history to fit her story and yet it all comes together. It dawned on me about 3/4 of the way into the book that since I already knew where their story ends, how will the crucifixion be portrayed, what will that mean for Ana? I wanted to know and was scared to find out. It is a complex tale; I was enthralled and captivated until the very end. I highly recommend it!

 Sue Monk Kidd was raised in the small town of Sylvester, Georgia, a place that deeply influenced the writing of her first novel The Secret Life of Bees. An award-winning and international bestselling author, Kidd also authored The Invention of Wings and The Mermaid Chair, as well as several acclaimed memoirs, including Traveling with Pomegranates and The Dance of the Dissident Daughter. Her new novel, The Book of Longings was published on April 21, 2020. Her website: https://suemonkkidd.com/

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