Title- The Book of Longings
Author- Sue Monk Kidd
Publisher- Tinder Press
Pages- 419
Rating- 3.5/5
Summary- What if Jesus was married and it was not mentioned in the Bible because in his time marriage was so normal that it was not worth mentioning? What if Jesus had a wife and it was not recorded in the New Testament because in the first century BC, unlike male characters there was hardly any mention of female characters in the scriptures and if ever they were mentioned, they often remained unnamed? This book tells the story of Jesus's wife where the author has tried to reimagine Jesus not only as a celibate bachelor but has also explored the possibility of him having a wife at some point before his ministry began.
Review- The author's portrayal of the way of life in the first century BC was absolutely flawless, so much so that it had transported me to those times where people used to make their own inks to write on papyrus. The atrocities caused by Herod Antipas on the common people were very heart-wrenching. It was very hard to imagine the plight of women during those days where they had no voice and right of their own. They were always under the guardianship of some male family member. The contrast between the status of women in Galilee and Alexandria was remarkable. When in Galilee a girl had to literally beg her father to allow her to read and write, in Alexandria female pharaohs and priestesses were a common sight.
In this book, Jesus's wife Ana the narrator as well as the protagonist was out of the ordinary. A time when women were used to staying in the shadows of men, she wanted to have a voice. She begged her father to bring her papyrus and thereby allow her to read and write. She used to write about all the forgotten female characters in the scriptures. When any woman she knew did something worth mentioning, she wrote that down too. When her father arranged her betrothal to a man twice her age, she protested against it, which was quite a rare sight. Her love for Jesus was boundless and she found solace in him which could be well understood when after Jesus's death she thought, "Nazareth had never been my home. Jesus had been my home." She had a strong determination in whatever she did; be it saving her scrolls from her parents when they came to burn them or risking her own life to save the life of Herod Antipas's wife. Ana's aunt Yaltha had a strong influence on her and she encouraged her to pursue her dreams. Jesus was shown as a common man who loved his wife and family and toiled to feed them, not as God's son with divine powers. He was seen as a person who loved his country and its men and wanted to establish God's kingdom through non-violence and love, instead of him doing miracles. Through his teachings of love, he got a lot of followers who treated him as God's Messiah.
The story seemed dragged at some points which was a bit tiring. Though the author has mentioned it at the end, still I did not understand why she made Ana's friend Tabitha anoint Jesus's feet even though Mary of Bethany (who had originally anointed his feet as mentioned in the Bible) was present as a character in the book.
If ever Jesus had a wife, the author has definitely done a wonderful job in bringing to light the most silenced woman in history. Bookworms who are feminists or interested in historical fiction must definitely give it a try.
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