User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
im not a historian, nor am i a theologian; but neither are necessary to feel so deeply astonished by this story.
before reading, the book synopsis had intrigued me. i found the concept to be fascinating and promising. but it was when i opened to the first page, read the first paragraph, that i knew this story would own my heart. the writing is just so breathtaking beautiful, i had goosebumps. the language is so poetic and radiates love.
and i think thats why this story worked so much for me - because at its heart, its a story of a woman who loves a man and how their intertwining lives bring forth change.
this story does narrate part of jesus’ human life and historical journey (as opposed to a theological one), but it isnt really about jesus. its about ana. a strong, independent, and compelling woman who wants to support the person she loves. i admire her as a character and the strong role womanhood plays in this story. so often woman get overlooked throughout history and lose their voices, so i appreciate how this story gives ana and other women a way to keep theirs.
i know this book wont be for everyone, but i found it to be personally moving in a way i never could have expected.
↠ 5 stars
Rating: really liked it
While this novel contains the historical rather than theological Jesus as a character, it is really the story of his fictional wife, Ana. It is widely believed that during the “lost years” of Jesus he worked as carpenter in Sepphoris rather than Nazareth and Ana meets Jesus during this time. The first part of the novel is a bit slow to start but nicely introduces Ana as a feminist with an aching need to read and most importantly to write. Jesus and Ana marry and eventually part as Jesus follows his own ache for God. Ana experiences a lot during their separation and it makes for an absorbing story. The resentment of Roman rule over Judea reaches a breaking point and most of us know what happens next. Don’t go into this expecting religiosity. Instead, Ana is given a presence during a time when women were completely invisible.
Rating: really liked it
Just started it! And look at my silly, too red quarantine reading style!
Rating: really liked it
Sue Monk Kidd brings so much heart, insight and new perspective to any work she has done. Several of my favorite books were written by her including Secret Life of Bees and Dance of the Dissident Daughter.
This is similar to Wings of Invention where she takes us into the past and makes it live again. Her writing here is stunning and like poetry. This is a historical fiction book that she made up, but it's so well done that I kept feeling like this was a true account of what happened. Sue did deep and thorough research into what was going on at this time. At the end in her author's note she does tell us all the liberties she took with history and moving events to suit her story. She is honest about it.
This story is about Ana, a girl with a gift for writing in a time and place where women were looked down on wanting to read and write. Jesus is her husband. This is the fictionalized part. Sue makes a great argument in the author's note, which I have made myself which is that the bible never, anywhere says if Jesus were married or not. It never says yes, or no. It isn't mentioned. We do know the bible pretty much thought women were invisible and have few stories in there as the book was written by men.
Sue goes on to say that in the day of Jesus's time, a man was only considered a 'man' when he married. Marriage was how he became an adult. Everyone married at that time. Jesus came right as asceticism was coming to that part of the world. It is possible he didn't marry and maybe that is another reason he was so unwelcome in his home town. There is no record of his life from age 12 to 30, so something happened in there. Maybe he went east and meet the Buddha, which many claim, or maybe he went on having a life like any other Jew and he had a family, who knows.
Sue decided to make up a story where he gets married and Ana is worthy of his love. She is brave and outspoken and has a largeness about her. Woman where property and this book shows all the horrors that women faced. Thank Goddess, we live in a time where woman have more choices. Woman can have a life and make decisions. This was hell for woman. Men treated woman worse than dogs back then. That's where this shines. Sue brings the plight of women into our hearts with this story. We see so many stories woven with Ana's of what life is like for women. There are good men who treat them well, but even still, you had babies and cooked and cleaned. That was it. Then there are worse things that happened.
Jesus loved Ana for seeing the world differently and he respected her. He saw her, to her core. It's a beautiful picture of love between a man and woman. Both had goals in life and both had to let the other reach their potential. Jesus never tried to stop Ana or make her small and Ana never tried to make Jesus stay and not fulfill his contract with God. That's what I loved was seeing the two of them together figuring out how to move forward in life and how to be together.
I cried so many times in this story. The women's stories broke my heart and it's easy to see how it was for those woman and how many woman suffer the same things today.
Ana felt so real, so wonderful, that I wanted her to be real. I wanted this to be a true story, but it's merely fiction. Still, it made me feel so much and weep for all the pain in the world. It's amazing society kept going with so much pain in everyone's lives.
As part of the story, Sue uses and actual poem called The Thunder: perfect Mind written by a female in Egypt and found in Nag Hammadi in 1945 and she lets Ana be the one to write it. She uses passages in the story and it's so strong and powerful. They are beautiful and powerful words. I want to read the entire poem now.
There was an actual group called the Therapeutae that was a Jewish group of scribs that was like a monastery in Egypt outside Alexandria. They let women read and write and they were part of the community. Ana ends up here being able to be her fullest self. That was real and it's a great part of the story.
There is a lot about Harod and his wives. I learned much from this book about the history. The best way to learn is by reading a great author who can bring a time to life. Sue did this here and this story is amazing and powerful. I'm sure people will hate that Sue took liberties with this story, but it's worth reading. It reminds me so much of the 'Red Tent' book, which was also good. Ana just seems more alive and more there. It's more powerful because of Ana.
If people want to see what it really looks like to live by the rule 'wives submit to your husbands' this can show you how bad a world that really is. It shows how painful and horrible the patriarchy really is. We need a world not where one gender rules over another, but where we have both genders equal. It's a tough line to make work, because you have to let both people have the openness to bring out their true potential and that has pain attached to it. It comes down to how Jesus and Ana were apart so much. It was so difficult, but they each had to respect the other. There were times they failed, but in the end, they made it work.
This book will rip your heart out and make you feel like your heart shines. It helped me feel connected to women through the ages. I want to learn more about the women in the bible. I want to have more stories about the women of the day.
Thank goodness Sue gave the world this story. It might be fiction, but it's powerful and there is so much truth told through that fiction. What a beautiful story.
I couldn't put this down and I read it in 2 days.
Rating: really liked it
I was a little skeptical going into this book, mainly because I consider myself a fairly devout Christian. While I am extremely open to interpretations and opposing beliefs, I thought this book would offend rather than inspire. I am so glad that I ignored my reservations and finished the book. This was definitely one of the most delicately explored historical fiction books I have ever read. Sue Monk Kidd explains herself that, while she was extremely careful to perform the necessary research and kept most of her references historically accurate, there were some things that needed to be changed in order to fit her story line. She mentions that while Jesus is never mentioned as having a wife, it is also never mentioned in biblical texts that he did not have one, and this raised a lot of questions for me. We all know that there is little documentation on Jesus's life between his 12th year and 30th year of life, so it is possible that he did not know he was the son of God and followed the expected path of a young devout Jewish man. I believe this book explores that possibility expertly. The storyline, while intricate, will take you on a journey throughout Ana's entire life- the betrayal of her parents, the true love she finds from not only Jesus, but the strong women in her life such as Yaltha and Tabitha, and Ana's own personal longings. She is a strong and inspiring female character, and while some might think the rebellion of a woman in a patriarchal society to be a bit cliche, I thought Kidd wrote it eloquently and believably. While the ending scene felt a little rushed to me, that cannot deter me from the book as a whole. Kidd's writing and research deserve a 5 out of 5.
Rating: really liked it
There have been many times when I’ve read about strong, courageous, intelligent women, both real and imagined who long for and achieve things that are deemed only acceptable and possible for men at the time of history in which they live. I have at those times thought that these were women beyond their time, but now I’m not so sure that thinking does justice to them. The striking thing is that they are women of their time, different than most because of their audacity to follow their longings when up against the societal and historic norms. Ana, the narrator of this novel is one of these imagined characters. She also happens to be married to Jesus. I received an early copy of this, but kept putting it off. I’m a big fan of Sue Monk Kidd, but I was hesitant - not sure if I wanted to read a rewrite or imagined story of Jesus. There may be people who will be offended by the premise that Jesus had a wife, but I was not. The author has chosen to portray Jesus as human, breaking from traditional Christian belief that he was the son of God. It’s a work of fiction and that is emphasized by Sue Monk Kidd in the Virginia Woolf quote she kept propped up in her desk while writing the book : “Everything is the proper stuff of fiction.” I remember she did the same thing with another quote when she was writing The Invention of Wings.
Jesus is a major character in the novel, his travels, his love of the the poor, his love of God who he calls his father - many of the things I know from the Bible are front and center here, but so is his love of Ana, which is beautifully portrayed. Others I know from the Bible are here - the Good Samaritan, Martha and Lazarus, Herod, John the Immerser who we better know as John the Baptist and Simon and his bother Andrew and Judas who in this story is Ana’s cousin raised as her brother. Yet, for me the story was Ana’s because it is not her marriage to Jesus that defines her. Ana is the daughter of a scribe, a father whose only saving grace is that he allowed Ana to read and write and be taught and the daughter of a mean spirited mother who wished that Ana had never been born . There are strong women in Ana’s life, especially her aunt Yaltha, whose strength and support of Ana and her own sad story and longing of her own are part of Ana’s journey. It’s a journey of Ana’s longing to write of the women from the scriptures whose stories needed to be told and remembered. The journey is a lengthy one, sometimes a little too lengthy, and so four stars instead of five. But bottom line is that I’m sorry I waited so long to read this book. I had a hard time putting it down.
I received a copy of this book from Viking through Edelweiss.
Rating: really liked it
For many Christians, it has been believed that Jesus was an unmarried man who was crucified and buried and was the son of God. Our knowledge of his life comes to us through the bible but there were many years that were unaccounted for in his thirty-three years on earth. What if in those years, Jesus did indeed marry? For some this might be a difficult concept and yet Sue Monk Kidd decided to take it on and wrote an interesting tale of just that possibility.
Ana, the future wife of Jesus was a headstrong young woman from Sepphoris. She came from a family of wealth and prestige, but Ana is not content with the life she leads. She longs to write, to be read, to be someone different than what she is expected to be. She doesn't accept the plans her parents laid out for her, for Ana had her own plans, her own dreams, her own desires.
Ana meets and marries Jesus after suffering much grief by her dominant parents. They move to Nazareth and as the story unfolds, Jesus finds in himself the zeal to teach, to challenge the Jewish leaders, to become a target. Leaving Ana to preach, she becomes entrapped in a world where while she longs to be with Jesus, she can't. She is a prisoner trapped in a world where women were held in such low esteem, where they were seen but seldom heard, where their fate was always determined by a male presence.
Using what many of us know about the divinity of Jesus, Ms Kidd creates a more human, less divine character, than the one Christians believe in. She omits the miracles attributed to him, and although she captures the heinous crucifixion, she does not delve into his Resurrection which is a basis for the Christian faith.
However, the story is really about Ana. She is, as is often said, a person born before their time. She is determined, tenacious, and steadfast in her overwhelming desire to write, to be heard, to be her own person. To that end, Ana strives and even though her life has what some would consider insurmountable obstacles, Ana's drive, determination, and perseverance sees her through to a life of her own choosing.
Thank you to Sue Monk Kidd, Penguin Random House Publishing, and Edelweiss for a copy of this book due out April 21, 2020.
Rating: really liked it
I can not tell you how bitterly disappointed I am in this book. I had eagerly awaited its arrival as I really like this author. I wasn't disappointed for the reasons you may think. I am just tired of spending time with characters I do not like and believe me, I did not like Ana, Jesus's wife. And because of this the entire book failed for me.
I had no trouble with Jesus having a wife. We know nothing of his life from 18-30 reading from the Bible. The Bible was written by men so women get a short shift in it and they are not deemed that important. I don't believe Jesus didn't like women. I think he did. It's the same as Mohammad who liked women too but it is their followers who obscured them. It isn't the leaders, it's the followers.
Anyway, I believe it's possible that Jesus married but I don't believe the nickname he would have picked for his wife was "Little Thunder." That seems unlikely to me. Ana is the daughter of the chief scribe of Herod. She knows how to read and write. She is also very opinionated and outspoken. She is unlikely to have existed in those times. I think she is the author's wish that she existed more than a person based in reality. I have a hard time believing she slapped Herod at all and then nothing happened at all.
She is also very selfish and self absorbed. Everything is about what she wanted. She had a servant that she freed but expected him to do everything she wanted the minute she wanted it. He has a new job and a new wife in Egypt but she expects him to drop everything and escort her back to Jesus. He doesn't want to but she accuses him of being selfish (what?). His new wife gets dragged into Ana's plans and complains how many times Ana asks her to lie for her. Ana tells her however many times she needs her to lie to accomplish her goals. Everything is about Ana.
On the whole, this was a very unsatisfactory read for me. I'd like to think if Jesus married it would be to a nicer person.
Rating: really liked it
4.5 Stars
’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 longing to be born.’ This is the story of Ana, the daughter of Matthias, who has allowed Ana to learn to write, in a time where very few women were taught this skill. Her father is the head scribe for Herod Antipas, and as such he is able to provide her with papyrus, and the pens and inks with which to write. Her mother is against this, feeling that it will ruin her chances for marriage, but her aunt, Yaltha, whose
mind was an immense feral country that spilled its borders and whose
mouth was a wellspring of thrilling and unpredictable utterances was educated in Alexandria, and makes sure that Ana is blessed with the same, and shares her knowledge on many topics with Ana. Some of which must be kept from her parents, especially her mother.
Her parents decide early on in this story that it is time for Ana to be wed, and dress Ana to be introduced to her intended, unbeknownst to Ana. As they first arrive, she is mesmerized by the sight of a young man with his hands lifted and strands of spun thread looped over his fingers, moving his finger to make the threads flutter, and laughing. She can’t look away, and he turns. Her mother impatiently calls to her, in order that she may be introduced to the man her parents intend her to marry. He is much older, and when she realizes what is going on she is repulsed, both by the deception involved, and by sight of him. Her mother insists, however, saying that she
will want for nothing.Before they leave, she stumbles, and the man who had been holding the thread is the one to help her up from her fall, and before either of them is able to utter a word, soldiers shove him to the ground. His sister calls his name. Jesus.
While some of this, naturally, has some connection to the biblical story of Jesus, this is really the story of Ana. Their marriage, and how she comes to leave Sepphoris to move to the home of his family in Nazareth are part of this story, but it is Ana’s story that is the heart of this. For those who might think she was portrayed as too much of ‘feminist’ for the era, consider Cleopatra, who was born sixty-some years prior to the birth of Jesus.
Eventually, the story introduces the character of John the Baptist, of whom Jesus has heard stories and wishes to witness this with his own eyes. Eventually he must leave Ana behind in his desire to travel with John the Baptist, since it would be too dangerous for her to go with them.
I loved this, if a bit unevenly at times. There are parts that I felt would have benefitted from some minor trimming, but I loved how beautifully this story was revealed through Ana’s eyes.
Many thanks, once again, to the Public Library system, and the many Librarians that manage, organize and keep all libraries running, for the loan of this book!
Rating: really liked it
“I am Ana. I was the wife of Jesus of Nazareth. I am a voice.”
I loved The Invention Of Wings and I will admit to being a lil skeptical about the subject of this novel being about Jesus. I’m so glad I didn’t let that deter me from giving this a chance. I was expecting biblical Jesus, however, Kidd came at this novel from a totally human perspective. Through his wife’s voice. Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the concept of Jesus having a wife this novel tells how it is entirely possible. It was realistically and thoughtfully told per the time period. I appreciate Kidd’s explanations for the choices she made in making the story told from Ana’s POV. Her ‘voice’ is one that I will not forget. This would make for a great book club pick. A must read!
Rating: really liked it
I simply couldn't suspend my disbelief. Ana's beliefs about herself were too modern, she was too perfect, there were too many obvious fallacies and inaccuracies for a 'well-researched' book, and I found myself rolling my eyes every time she showed up at YET ANOTHER significant historical event, while remaining largely silent on her husband's activities?
Yeah.
Rating: really liked it
2.5★I was mostly bored then longing to finish this one and move on.
Rating: really liked it
Why I love it
by Glennon Doyle, Author of the #1
New York Times bestseller
UntamedSue Monk Kidd, the brilliant, beloved storyteller who gifted us with
The Secret Life of Bees, has done it again. Her most recent treasure,
The Book of Longings, is the first book that has literally taken my breath away. As I read, I had to close it and breathe deeply, again and again.
Both a radical reimagining of the New Testament, and an homage to all untamed, trespassing women,
The Book of Longings is right on time for this moment. The book tells the story of Ana—a brave and ambitious woman who rails against her repressive society, fighting to express herself and realize her full potential. As the daughter of a wealthy politician, Ana is expected to marry a man chosen for her, and not the penniless carpenter named Jesus she meets in a chance encounter. What follows is a stunning and universal portrayal of women’s longing, silencing, and awakening.
I read
The Book of Longings right after my own book
Untamed made its way into the world, and found Ana of Sue Monk Kidd's masterpiece to be a breathtakingly untamed woman. I will carry
The Book of Longings in my heart forever, because it reflects what was always there. I invite every trespassing woman to find her own journey in Ana's story—and to finish this novel mesmerized, encouraged, and emboldened.
Read more at: https://bookofthemonth.com/the-book-o...
Rating: really liked it
When I saw the premise of this book, that Jesus Christ had a wife, I was quite intrigued to read it. My one hesitation was that this might feel like work to read. I demand from my reading experience to provide an interlude of escape and relaxation. I don't like to "get into the weeds" when I read. On the religious front, I am a believer. But back in the early eighties I purchased "The Reader's Digest Bible" and found that it was the only palatable version I could withstand reading. I needn't have worried about this tome. Ten percent into this I was already enchanted.
This is a work of historical fiction narrated by Ana, the wife of Jesus. As the book begins, she is fourteen. She is not following the accepted role of a young woman in her time. She has great aspirations and longings. Her passion is writing. She feels a sense of destiny that she will do something important with this gift and will be undeterred in realizing this goal. Her father has grudgingly provided tutors so Ana can perfect her writing skills and learn different languages. He has also kept Ana supplied with parchment and material to make inks. She has already documented important stories of females that she knows, since no one seems to write about them. Ana considers her handiwork of these scrolls her most valuable possession.
At this time in history, a woman's role was decided by her parents and involved being a pawn in arranged marriages. A contract would be prepared for the marriage that was advantageous for the parents. Ana's parents had no intention of her prioritizing a writing career of any sort, and they would decide who she would marry. Love was not even a consideration.
Ana's father's sister Aunt Yalta came to live with the family. Yalta is a very strong and calculating woman... a bit of a rogue. She understands Ana better than anyone. They are like kindred spirits. Unlike Ana's parents, Yalta encourages Ana to utilize her talents and inner strength to become the woman she wants to be.
The writing style is very straightforward and easily digestible, the way I like it. Ana meets Jesus in a marketplace at the beginning of the book when she is 14. Without prior warning, Ana is being brought by her parents to meet an intended elderly husband. Nearby, Jesus is helping his sister Salome with some threads for sale at a market table. The second when Ana looks into Jesus's eyes for the first time was a beautiful "aha" moment. Decades later, Ana is right there in the street (along with her mother-in-law Mary) as Jesus is bearing the weight of the cross on his back, struggling with each step to his own execution. This is an incredible book about a very intelligent, strong, talented and brave woman. I am overwhelmed.
Thank you to Viking / Penguin Publishing Group for providing an advance reader copy via Edelweiss.
Rating: really liked it
Jesus’s wife is back.
The kids won’t believe it, but in 1988 the biggest thing we had to complain about was Martin Scorsese’s “The Last Temptation of Christ,” a Hollywood adaptation of a novel by Nikos Kazantzakis that includes a vision of Jesus married to Mary Magdalene. Protesters picketed theaters, and in Paris they set one on fire. Scorsese received death threats. Several countries banned the film.
Now, into this controversial arena steps Sue Monk Kidd with “The Book of Longings,” a novel about Jesus’s wife. Such a story from Kidd makes sense. Although best known for her 2001 blockbuster, “The Secret Life of Bees,” she began her writing career by publishing spiritual memoirs that described her move from the Baptist theology of her youth to the insights of Christian mystics old and new. In the 20th-anniversary edition of “The Dance of the Dissident Daughter,” Kidd said she was motivated by a desire to introduce “readers to the lost history of the sacred feminine and to the jolting idea that God can be visualized in feminine ways.” Naturally, that jolting idea was not welcomed in some. . . .
To read the rest of this review, go to The Washington Post:https://www.washingtonpost.com/entert...
