The Book of Longings

The Book of Longings is a 2020 Christian novel by American author Sue Monk Kidd, written as a feminist reimagining of the New Testament. It follows a fictionalized Galilean scribe named Ana who becomes the wife of Jesus during the lost years, commenting on the silencing of women across history and literature. It received positive reviews for its respect towards the Biblical material and the characterization of its protagonists. The novel has been translated into 17 languages and a six-part miniseries adaptation was announced in 2023.

Plot

Ana is the daughter of the chief scribe of Herod Antipas in the city of Sepphoris and the adoptive sister of Judas, a Zealot agitator. Ana learns to read and write at a young age but is dismayed by the muted roles of women in the Bible, collecting and transcribing their stories in secret. She becomes close friends with her educated aunt Yaltha after she is exiled to Sepphoris from Alexandria by Ana's uncle, Haran. Ana is forcefully betrothed to a repulsive widower named Nathaniel, but meets Jesus in the market when she is taken for Nathaniel to inspect. Her parents attempt to burn her collection of scrolls, but Ana smuggles out her most important scrolls to bury in a nearby cave, where she chances upon Jesus mourning for Joseph. Ana adds the story of her best friend Tabitha to her record of silenced and abused women after Tabitha's father cuts her tongue out for publicly accusing a rapist.

Judas destroys Nathaniel's fields to force him to call off the betrothal, but is instead captured by Antipas and disowned by their father. Ana befriends Antipas' neglected wife Phasaelis at the celebratory feast, and is later invited to the palace by her. Antipas is struck by Ana's beauty and has her sit for a mosaic, which she uses to negotiate Judas' release. Nathaniel dies, releasing Ana from the betrothal but rendering her a widow. She is caught smiling at his funeral and rumors begin to spread of her having been deflowered out of wedlock. Now considering her unmarriable, her father offers for her to become a concubine for Antipas but she rebels and is recognized by an angry crowd upon escaping the palace. Jesus saves her from being stoned, declaring himself her betrothed in Nathaniel's place. Ana's father is demoted for her rejection and meekly accepts Jesus' petition, allowing Ana and Yaltha passage to Jesus' family in Nazareth.

Ana befriends Mary, herself suspected of adultery in regards to Jesus's father, but Ana is unaccustomed to peasant life and can no longer afford her papyrus and inks. Traveling to the Temple for Passover they discover an injured Tabithia and carry her to Lazarus, Martha, and Mary of Bethany with the help of the Good Samaritan. Jesus uses the Samaritan's coin to pay off a widow's debt to the money changers in the Temple, which he decries as a den of thieves.

Jesus begins to travel further abroad for work, where he meets Andrew, Simon, and John while fishing. Ana falls pregnant but the baby, named Susanna, is stillborn, and Ana rediscovers her writing as an outlet for her grief. Yaltha also reveals she left a baby daughter named Chaya behind when she was exiled and hopes to return to Haran to find her. Judas reappears and befriends Jesus as a fellow revolutionary, though they disagree on the use of force against Rome. He also brings news of Antipas marrying Herodias to try and claim the title of King of the Jews, and Ana writes to Phasaelis to warn she may be assassinated to make way. Jesus and Ana follow tales of John the Immerser to the Jordan, where God reveals himself to Jesus as his father and Jesus joins the other Disciples. Ana receives word that both her parents are dead and Phisaelis has escaped, but that Herodias has discovered her letter, forcing her to leave for Alexandria with Yaltha when Haran sends a treasurer to handle the estate.

Haran is impressed by Ana's guile in reaching him and offers her lodgings in return for her work as a scribe, but he forbids them from leaving his palace or seeking out Chaya. Ana nonetheless uses her access to his study to discover he broken his promise to Yaltha by selling her to the priests of Isis under the name of Diodora. She also receives word that the Immerser has been executed by Antipas and Herodias, leaving Jesus to begin his ministry openly as the King Messiah. They sneak out to the temple of Isis while Haran is abroad and introduce themselves to Diodora, who initially rejects them. She returns to their palace the next day, only for the three of them to be discovered by Haran. He sends Diodora away and locks up Yaltha and Ana to be deported to Nubia, but they escape and find refuge at the Therapeutae, the Gnostic commune where Yaltha first learned to read and write.

Ana is praised for her work after she composes and performs The Thunder: Perfect Mind for a feast. Diodora visits and she and Ana declare each other to be sisters, though Haran continues to post guards around the precinct to catch Ana and Yaltha without violating the Therapeutae's sovereignty. She receives a letter from Judas, who is disillusioned with Jesus' pacifism and warns he will go to any lengths to incite a revolution next Passover. Ana deduces he means to betray Christ to whip his followers into an uprising. She avoids Haran's soldiers by hiding in a coffin but is badly delayed in the journey to Galilee, arriving at Bethany Passover night. She hears of the cleansing of the Temple, Judas acting strangely, and Jesus taking his supper in the city, but is convinced by Lazarus, Mary, and Martha to stay the night. She finds Judas mad with guilt in Gethsemane the next morning, explaining he had expected Jesus to resist the arrest and force the disciples to take up arms. Ana finds Jesus during the passion and comforts him, but is powerless to stop the crucifixion. She joins the other women in mourning and embalming him after John confirms Judas' suicide.

Tabitha, now capable of speaking and singing with the remnants of her tongue, travels with Ana back to the Therapeutae, where Ana experiences a vision of Jesus proclaiming his immortality. She hears of the cult of Christ spreading across the Roman Empire, but is disappointed to find the stories describe Jesus as unmarried. As an old woman she inherits leadership of the Therapeutae and buries copies of her writings in a hill to ensure she will not be silenced by men after her death.

Writing

a mosaic known as the "Mona Lisa of the Galilee", which Kidd incorperated as the basis of Ana's appearance.

Kidd was inspired to consider the idea of a wife of Jesus by a Biblical hoax featured on National Geographic, explaining that "my imagination was ignited. I thought, if Jesus’ wife ever existed, she would be the most silenced woman in Western history". The first 14 months of the writing process were taken up by extensive research on the period and setting, including Kidd's own travel notes on Egypt, Israel, and Jordan.

Kidd formulated and wrote much of the novel in North Carolina in place of her home state of Georgia. It has been translated into 17 languages as of 2023.

Themes and analysis

The sexuality and marital status of Jesus is a matter of some contention and speculation. He is traditionally taken to have lived a celibate life free from sins such as lust, though the Gospels and New Testament do not directly deny the possibility of his taking a wife or lover. The concept had been previously explored in fiction, and some have argued that a marriage would have been implied by omission due to the problematic legal status of unmarried men at the time. Kidd's fictionalization of Jesus is initially betrothed to a Nazarene named Judith, but calls off the marriage in the belief he is destined for celibacy as a preacher. He is later forced to separate from Ana due to John the Immerser following traditional Jewish provisions against female priesthood.

Jungian motifs and feminist theology are prevalent throughout Kidd's work, who previously explored feminine divinity through the Black Madonna worshiped in The Secret Life of Bees. Ana is pushed to rebel against the patriarchal structure of existing Jewish religion by both Jesus and her Therapeutaean aunt, eventually coming to worship Sophia, or Wisdom, as a feminine person or aspect of the Judeo-Christian God. The Gnostic women declare her to be the "Daughter of Sophia", mirroring Jesus's own divinity as the Son of God, while her use of a coffin to sneak out of the precinct is argued to foreshadow the resurrection directly.

Reception

April Austin of the Christian Science Monitor praised the book with its human characterization of both Ana and Jesus, but noted Jesus' miracles are almost entirely avoided to maintain focus on the historical Jesus, writing "Kidd's research into first-century Jewish life, along with her vivid descriptions of the villages and terrain, make Ana’s story come alive." D.G. Martin wrote "Whether Kidd's readers are true believers or skeptical inquirers, The Book of Longings will be an enriching and challenging read." Diane Scharper of the National Catholic Reporter praised the novel for its factual accuracy and anti-misogynist message. Ron Charles of the Washington Post described Ana as "so woke", but criticized her as a flat and underdeveloped character.

Adaptation

The German Sony House Pictures has confirmed work on an English-language TV miniseries adaptation with founder Andreas Gutzeit as showrunner, alongside a multinational team of writers including Swantje Oppermann, in the wake of Gutzeit's successful tenure on Sisi. Gutzeit argued for the plausibility of Jesus having a wife, crediting Kidd's narrative as a result of "double historical deduction", and advertised casting as "authentic" to the time period in place of "those old sandal flics with white American stars". Sites across Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan and Southern Spain are being considered for location shooting. Gutzeit summarized the project as "a story where two people realize what is wrong, what is right, how love can save people and that’s the heart of it. And they’ve experienced exactly that".

External links

• The Book of Longings on Sue Monk Kidd's website.
• The Book of Longings miniseries on IMDb