The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd

THE BOOK OF LONGINGS by Sue Monk Kidd (The Invention of Wings, The Secret Life of Bees) is the latest from a novelist who excels at exploring strong women. Here, she portrays biblical times and tells the story of Ana, the wife of Jesus. It is partly a coming of age story, with Ana rebelling against constraints which her parents and society place on her. And, this is certainly a story of self-discovery and one with strong feminist undertones. An apt description of Ana comes from her aunt who says, “What most sets you apart is the spirit in you that rebels and persists.  It isn’t the largeness in you that matters most, it’s your passion to bring it forth.” Kidd gives Ana a powerful voice, including passages from The Thunder: Perfect Mind, “an actual document written by an unknown author believed to be female and dated within the novel’s time frame.”  Although this is a fictional work, Kidd acknowledges “the many scholars whose books, lectures, and documentaries on the historical Jesus, the people, culture, religion, politics, and history of first century Palestine and Alexandria, biblical interpretation, the Gnostic Gospels, and women and gender in religion formed the mainstay of [my] research.” A LibraryReads selection compared to Diamant’s The Red Tent, THE BOOK OF LONGINGS is an intriguing look that reimagines history and tradition; it received starred reviews from Library Journal and Publishers Weekly.