‘Book of Longings’ has lasting power - Boston Herald

BOOK REVIEW

“THE BOOK OF LONGINGS”

By Sue Monk Kidd

(Viking, $28)

Grade: A

“I am Ana. I was the wife of Jesus ben Joseph of Nazareth. I called him Beloved and he, laughing, called me Little Thunder.”

With these opening words, Sue Monk Kidd launches into her ambitious new novel, “The Book of Longings.”

Ana is a force to be reckoned with. A woman who questions the constraints of her gender and, after escaping an unwanted betrothal, she marries the most sincerely feminist man of biblical times. Jesus.

It is clear from the first page that Kidd is courageous in imagining the life of Jesus as a married man. How many authors would take this on? But her painstaking research and artful crafting of setting and character ensures that “The Book of Longings” is not just an extraordinary novel, but one with lasting power.

From childhood, Ana had always been different, having developed a love of writing and a longing to make her voice heard.

It is not until her Aunt Yaltha comes to live with her — bestowing on the girl all the warmth lacking in her mother — that Ana starts to see her intelligence not as an accident but as a gift from God.

Kidd’s brilliance shines through on so many levels, but not the least in her masterful, reverential approach to capturing Jesus of Nazareth as a fully human young man in his 20s. One who loves and worships God but also works to support his mother and siblings, and takes a wife whom he loves, respects and nicknames Little Thunder.

The result is an epic masterpiece that is a triumph of insight and storytelling.

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"lasting" - Google News
May 02, 2020 at 04:47PM
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‘Book of Longings’ has lasting power - Boston Herald
"lasting" - Google News
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