The Book of Longings - Sue Monk Kidd

⭐ 8.0/10

(Originally written by Magdalene)

The story of Jesus' fictional wife, Ana, by the author of The Secret Life of Bees. The author is exploring the fact that the Bible never says directly that Jesus didn't have a wife, and what would it have been like for her? Ana has her own goals and longings, primarily to study and to write, but of course is limited by the culture. She's also the sister of Judas, so it's an interesting take on him as well. Most of the book takes place before Jesus starts his ministry, but we also get to see a lot of the events that we're familiar with from the Bible.

The concept is really interesting, because as the author says in her note, she's not trying to say she believes this is how things happened or that Jesus was married. It's more of a "what if" situation. (Or even kind of like fan fiction!) She focuses on Jesus' humanity (he doesn't seem to know/believe he's God's son) and his life before he began preaching. But this book is very much about Ana, and all of her struggles to become who she's meant to be. It seems to be well-researched, and a really interesting look at life during Jesus' lifetime. I think it was a creative take on such a familiar and widely-known story. The goody-two-shoes evangelical girl who still exists in me chafed occasionally, but overall I appreciated what the author did with the idea.