By Sue Monk Kidd
Viking 2020
418 pages Historical
Fiction
Maybe I
shouldn’t be writing about The Book of Longings because I didn’t
finish reading it, but we had such a good discussion about it at my spiritual
growth book group Zoom meeting that I feel compelled to say a few words about
it.
Here is a
brief summary of the book from the publisher.
“In her mesmerizing fourth work of fiction, Sue Monk Kidd takes
an audacious approach to history and brings her acclaimed narrative gifts to
imagine the story of a young woman named Ana. Raised in a wealthy family with
ties to the ruler of Galilee, she is rebellious and ambitious, with a brilliant
mind and a daring spirit. She engages in furtive scholarly pursuits and writes
narratives about neglected and silenced women. Ana is expected to marry an
older widower, a prospect that horrifies her. An encounter with eighteen-year-old
Jesus changes everything.
Their marriage evolves with love and conflict, humor and pathos
in Nazareth, where Ana makes a home with Jesus, his brothers, and their mother,
Mary. Ana’s pent-up longings intensify amid the turbulent resistance to Rome’s
occupation of Israel, partially led by her brother, Judas. She is sustained by
her fearless aunt Yaltha, who harbors a compelling secret. When Ana commits a
brazen act that puts her in peril, she flees to Alexandria, where startling
revelations and greater dangers unfold, and she finds refuge in unexpected
surroundings. Ana determines her fate during a stunning convergence of events
considered among the most impactful in human history.”
Sue Monk
Kidd was inspired to write the a novel about Jesus’ wife after she read an
account of an ancient gospel manuscript discovered in 2014 which seemed to have
been written by Jesus’ wife. While the manuscript was later debunked as fake,
it set off Kidd’s imagination. A lot of research followed, the character of Ana was created, and The Book of
Longings emerged. That is one of the things that I greatly admire about
Kidd. She has an extraordinary imagination.
Kidd is a
very skilled writer, the novel is very readable, and Ana, who became Jesus’
wife, is a wonderful, creative character. One of the reviewers suggests that it
is a “richly imagined first-person narrative.” I loved Ana’s independence, her
fierceness, and her daring. I am not sure, however, that a teenaged girl would
have been so brazen in Nazareth at that time—and survived to tell her tale. The
other part that worried me was how Kidd inserted Biblical events into the
experience of this young girl—and a very young Jesus. There is the Samaritan
story, happening right before her eyes, as well as many other events—seemingly
an attempt to promote authenticity. One little thing that bugged me was that
Judas was Ana’s brother in the narrative. Why, I don't know. Maybe it felt a little contrived.
What I liked the most was the discussion that emerged in our group about Biblical narrative and the contextual treatment of women. We decided that perhaps Kidd’s major purpose was to promote the understanding of the role of women through the generations, and how the Biblical narrative has been used to undermine the role of women in the Christian church. Was there a place for feminism in the Biblical narrative? Was this Kidd's intent? The women in my group all had stories to tell of being relegated to an underlying place in the church, particularly the women who had theological degrees. We learned a lot about each other in the discussion. I am glad that The Book of Longings served that purpose for our group. I wondered how the book would have fared in a less theologically liberal group of women. Or in a Catholic book group, because the fact that Jesus was married might undermine one of the key tenants of Catholicism.
You will
have to make the decision for yourself as you read. It is beautifully written,
but the story-line is a bit problematic.
Sue Monk
Kidd’s website.
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