Rating: 5
Author: Sue Monk Kidd Release Date: April 21, 2020
The Book of Longings is a fictional rewriting of the story of Jesus from a different perspective. What if Jesus had a wife, and her untold story was just untold? With this question, we meet Ana, a woman who has desires that do not fit a misogynistic world. Ana is an educated, well-written woman who writes stories of the women before her. Ana’s life takes turn after turn because of her desire to write, and when she meets Jesus, the second part of her life begins. This book was beautiful and inspiring. The love between Ana and Jesus pulls at your heartstrings and has you rooting for them, making you forget entirely the outcome. Yaltha, Ana’s aunt, had a way with words that resonated with me. She offered a new perspective, and her story was heartbreaking and touching. It wasn’t just Ana’s and Yaltha’s story that had me rooting for them but for all the women in the story. The relationship between Jesus and Ana was so loving and beautiful to witness. The love they had for each other brought tears to my eyes. The way Sue Monk Kidd made each character three-dimensional made their stories even more touching. Ana’s sheer will and determination kept pushing her; no matter how much she had fallen, the characters stuck by each other, and the relationship between them and their growth was perfect. It is such a well-written novel, and although the story was bittersweet than I usually like my stories, it made me feel inspired and ready to face life and the world a little differently. I loved this story and the characters, most of them, anyway. It was a wonderful retelling of history and left me feeling empty when I closed the book.
