The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd
(Format used for this read: Print–hardback—another BOTM pick—I absolutely LOOOOOOOOVEEEEEE this club membership IMMENSELY…maybe as much as my wine club membership…IDK it’s a close call with that one 😆)
I was instantly intrigued as soon as I saw this book on the BOTM website…the one line summary said this:
“A not-so-religious reimagining of Jesus’ life that beautifully tackles the question: What if he had a feminist wife?”
If you grew up in church (like me) and have spent plenty years of your adult life as a evangelical who read the Bible literally (also like me for a long time….my views have changed QUITE a bit…. but that is for another time and another place…😆) you may have read that sentence up there and literally GASPED OUT LOUD.
I can hear yall now:
That is heresy!
That goes against ALL WE KNOW!
That is blasphemous!
Okay…take a breath, calm down and loosen your grip on your pearls.
THIS BOOK IS FICTION.
IT IS A MADE UP STORY.
The author is not trying to write some deep theological bible study here (although she did research and work on this book for FOUR AND A HALF YEARS 😱…I’ll go more into that in a sec).
THIS IS JUST A REIMAGINED TALE.
Now, if that STILL doesn’t sit well with you and you think some things should just NOT be messed with, then I suggest you just don’t read it….you don’t need to message me denouncing and insulting it or go on some blog posting spree about if people read this they will go to hell….
If it ain’t your kind of entertainment, well then… it ain’t for you. NBD.
Just “thank you, next” and move on down the literary road.
Now that we got THAT shit cleared up…. here we go with the official summary:
“An extraordinary story set in the first century about a woman who finds her voice and her destiny, from the celebrated bestselling author of The Secret Life of Bees and The Invention of Wings.
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 18 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.
Grounded in meticulous research and written with a reverential approach to Jesus’s life that focuses on his humanity, The Book of Longings is an inspiring, unforgettable account of one woman’s bold struggle to realize the passion and potential inside her, while living in a time, place, and culture devised to silence her. It is a triumph of storytelling both timely and timeless, from a masterful writer at the height of her powers.”
This book was highly enjoyable….but was not a light read.
Yes Jesus IS one of the vital characters in this story…but mostly these words are about Ana….her life, her love, her heart, her mind, her dreams, her desires, her frustrations, her determination.
While reading of Ana’s life, I was reminded of the struggles women have had of being heard throughout history…and also reminded of the numerous ways many of us are still silenced today.
We have not been ANYWHERE CLOSE to being equally valued for our opinions, our creativity and our intelligence as men have.
Ana is a woman who knows she has much to offer the world but yet feels limited, stifled and silenced by her surrounding society. She fights against cultural norms and expectations…she uses her voice loudly in any way she can…most of the time in ways that are highly dangerous for her and the members of her family.
Her love story with Jesus is a beautiful one yet heartbreaking all the same….because you know how it will end.
Ana never fully understands his calling into ministry, but she supports and loves him thru it all…..he does the same for her with her calling to be a writer and use her own voice.
And while we are on the topic of Jesus….let’s chat about HIM for a minute.
I have always seen Jesus as an advocate and supporter of women….not JUST women…but ALL marginalized and oppressed people.
It’s one of the reasons I love him so much.
But also…a few years ago when I started looking into and researching how the Bible as we know it got put together and realized that ONLY MEN decided what stories/narratives/history they wanted to include, I began to wonder….
how many of the voices of women that Jesus may have amplified and were vital to his life and ministry were completely silenced again?
That is a WHOLE nother rabbit trail I can go down….. but I’ll save THOSE gems for another day 😆
Anyway…..
I wanted to share with yall some bits from the Author’s Note at the end of the book. It is fascinating for me to hear the author describe her creative process and also her purpose in developing these words. Her research was extensive as I mentioned above and equally as intriguing…I learned some new facts (that I of course verified LOL) and also had some facts confirmed that I have come across in my own learning. (emphasis on her words is totes my own here, yall….because that is how I read it in my head 😆…I know yall live for peeks up in that chaotic jumble)
Plus it inspired me to hit up the Google for my own research….because learning is growing, yall…and I adore it so very much. I bet some of you will read things below that will surprise you…and have you doing the very same!
“The aim of a novelist is not only to hold a mirror up to the world, but to imagine what’s possible. The Book of Longings reimagines the story that Jesus was a single, celibate bachelor and imagines the possibility that at some point he had a wife. Of course, Christian New Testament Scripture does not say he was married, but neither does it say he was single. THE BIBLE IS SILENT ON THE MATTER. “If Jesus had a wife, it would be recorded in the Bible” someone explained to me. BUT WOULD IT? The invisibility and silencing of women were REAL THINGS. Compared to men in Jewish and Christian scriptures, women RARELY have speaking parts, and they are not mentioned NEARLY as often. If they are referenced, they are often unnamed.”
“Claims that Jesus was NOT married first began in the second century. They arose as Christianity absorbed ideas of asceticism and Greek dualism, which devalued the body and the physicality of the world in favor of the spirit. Closely identified with the body, women were also devalued, silenced, and marginalized, losing roles of leadership they’d possessed within first century Christianity. Celibacy became a path to holiness. Virginity became one of Christianity’s highest virtues. Certain that the end time would come soon, believers in the second century hotly debated if Christians should marry. Considering the accretion of such views into the religion, it struck me as not particularly acceptable for Jesus to have been married. Perceptions like these allowed me to move outside of traditional ecclesiastical boxes and begin to imagine the character of a married Jesus.”
“….I felt the importance of IMAGINING a married Jesus. Doing so provokes a fascinating question: How would the Western world be different if Jesus HAD married AND his wife had been included in his story?…..Perhaps women would have found more egalitarianism. Perhaps the relationship between sexuality and sacredness would have been less fractured…”
“I wanted the story to be about Jesus the man and NOT God the Son, who he would become. Early Christianity debated whether Jesus was human or divine, a matter settled in the fourth century at the Council of Nicaea and again at the Council of Chalcedon in the fifth century, when doctrines were adopted stating Jesus was fully human AND fully divine. Nevertheless, his humanity diminished as he became more and more glorified. Writing from a novelist’s perspective and NOT a religious one, I was drawn to his humanity.”
“It was something of a wonder to discover that the human Jesus has so many different faces that that people, even historical Jesus scholars, tend to view him through the lens of their own needs and proclivities. For some he’s a political activist. For others, a miracle worker. He’s viewed as a rabbi, social prophet, religious reformer, wisdom teacher, nonviolent revolutionary, philosopher, feminist, apocalyptic preacher and on and on.”
“The day Ana appeared, I knew one thing about her besides her name. I knew that what she wanted most was a voice. If Jesus actually DID have a wife, and history unfolded exactly the way it has, then she would be the most silenced woman in HISTORY and the woman most IN NEED of a voice. I’ve tried to give her one.”
I hope all this has yall all kinds of interested and wanting to read this book RIGHT AWAY….because YOU SHOULD.
So very very good.