The Book of Longings: An Insightful Novel Exploring the Depths of Human Emotion

m.j.sawatzky: An excellent author but the subject matter may not be for everyone.

Canada on Sep 24, 2023

Rose P.: Spoilers
It took a lot of "chutzpah" to write a novel about, not only a married Jesus, but a Jesus who had brothers and a sister and who sweated and smiled and presumably farted. As a non-Christian, I found the book incredibly refreshing. After years of being overshadowed by "The Big J," I felt I could make peace with Christianity after reading this book.

Though the character of Jesus in this novel didn't perform miracles and magic, he was truly a mensch as Jews understand him. He was a believer. His prayers were sincere. He followed The Torah and he stood up to the Romans, demanding freedom for his people. He found something to love in some of the most unlovable characters and he suffered horribly for his beliefs.

This is the story of Jesus as seen through the eyes of Ana, a well-to-do, intelligent Hebrew girl who spotted, and fell in love with a young Jesus at the marketplace. As her parents dragged her through the streets to marry her off to a widowed man old enough to be her father, she spots Jesus, and he haunts her thoughts and dreams. Though she's intelligent and independent, she cannot pursue her attraction. Her life as a Hebrew woman doesn't give her that...

United States on Sep 16, 2023

Michele DeLuca: I finished this book yesterday and I cannot get the characters out of my head. I want to return to them. That rarely happens to me. I am stunned by the impact the story has had on my soul and my imagination, and as a writer myself, I recognized the longings in both the author, Sue Monk Kidd, and in the main character, Ana, the wife of Jesus, brought to life so beautifully and believably in this story. As for me, I left my religion long ago, not being able to abide the darkness in its origins and practices. This spectacularly imagined story reintroduced me to a completely human and divine Jesus who changed the world with his love; as well as to a woman of courage and longings, who walked for a time at his side. In the author's interview at the end of the book, Kidd said of her main character Ana, that "in a way, she symbolizes the missing feminine in religion." The author, in her interview also recounts the words of a French publisher who wrote her and said, "Even though the novel is set in the first century, it is the most modern book I've read this year." This book has helped me see Jesus's origin story in a new light, fleshed out by what I too can imagine occurred back then....

United States on Sep 11, 2023

Steel: Would have expected more on Jesus wife Anna life

India on Jul 07, 2023

Hannah Munley: I could not put this book down.
It consumed me. It's beautifully written. Sue Monk Kidd has such a way with words. Her words fill you with a sense of wonder. Unfortunately, that sense of wonder doesn't deliver.
I cried in the opening chapter. Kidd opens up the place inside you that holds your deepest longings. She awakens them, and introduces you to the idea of blessing that and sharing that with God.
She does a lot to promote women, and appreciate the feminine, which is also spectacular.
Her portrayal of Jesus' human side is beautiful, showing the depth of His kindness and just how radical He is, which a lot of people don't realize. While I don't believe Jesus had a wife, I could get past the premise and enjoy the book for what it is. That said, that premise is made out to be the controversial or sacreligious part of the book -- IT ISN'T. What hit me first was the introduction of the worship of "Sophia," the feminine person of God, or the feminine personification of holy wisdom. This shook me up a bit...however, I am of the mind that God created us male and female, "in His image," meaning that He contains aspects of both femininity and masculinity within Himself. So...

United States on Jun 23, 2021

TAPIE: Such an unusual novel to write. I can only congratulate Sue Monk Kidd for her audacity on writing a tale around the life of Jesus and his wife. So little is actually known about Jesus between the ages of 12 and 30 and Ms Kidd was able to tell a story, and particularly that of his wife Ana, during his adult years right up to his death. A very plausible tale and one which I would recommend to all. I am a Christian, and even though I know Ms Kidd wrote it as fiction, I feel that it could very much be the untold story of Jesus.

France on Jun 16, 2021

S Payne: I have read 3 of Sue Monk Kidd’s books before, 2 of which I loved and 1 was average but I had high hopes for “The Book of Longings” and, although I am not religious, the subject matter was really intriguing to me.

Although we have Jesus as a well-known character in this book our main character is Ana, the imagined wife of Jesus. It is widely believed that during the “lost years”, Jesus worked as carpenter in Sepphoris rather than Nazareth and in the book, Ana meets Jesus during this time. We follow Ana, a strong, independent and compelling woman who wants to support the person she loves during the trials of living at that time and how she copes with Jesus’ life choices and what ultimately happens to him.

As with all Sue Monk Kidd’s books, her writing is amazing, she is a truly gifted storyteller. The language and flow draws you in and carries you along the journey. Ana, as a character, was a wonder and a joy; a strong and fierce woman with dreams and goals of her own and her passion shines through on every page. I enjoyed being with Ana and warmed to her easily. Seeing her form relationships and use her brain and her voice in a way that women were not...

United Kingdom on Mar 04, 2021

Mys M: The Book of Longings was selected for our in-house book club to read and I heard good things about it from friends who had read it but I personally have read or heard nothing else about it.  As I usually enjoy well-researched biblical fiction, I bought it and read it over several days.  It has the potential, I think, to be controversial and possibly has been in various media but, as I have stated, I would be totally unaware of that.  I came to it with no bias.

This is the story of Ana, daughter of Matthieas, head scribe and counsellor to Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee and Perea.  She grew up in a grand house in Sepphoris in the first century with her parents, her adopted brother Judas, and later, her aunt, Yaltha, her father's sister, who came to them banished from her home in Alexandria by her older brother, her only child taken from her, after being accused of poisoning her abusive husband .

From the beginning, Ana has had an aptitude for languages, writing, and studying.  She has begged her father to have a tutor after teaching herself Hebrew and has studied the stories of matriarchs in the scriptures and written them out on "scrolled...

Canada on Feb 04, 2021