*TUDOR^QUEEN* 's Reviews > The Book of Longings

When I saw the premise of this book, that Jesus Christ had a wife, I was quite intrigued to read it. My one hesitation was that this might feel like work to read. I demand from my reading experience to provide an interlude of escape and relaxation. I don't like to "get into the weeds" when I read. On the religious front, I am a believer. But back in the early eighties I purchased "The Reader's Digest Bible" and found that it was the only palatable version I could withstand reading. I needn't have worried about this tome. Ten percent into this I was already enchanted.

This is a work of historical fiction narrated by Ana, the wife of Jesus. As the book begins, she is fourteen. She is not following the accepted role of a young woman in her time. She has great aspirations and longings. Her passion is writing. She feels a sense of destiny that she will do something important with this gift and will be undeterred in realizing this goal. Her father has grudgingly provided tutors so Ana can perfect her writing skills and learn different languages. He has also kept Ana supplied with parchment and material to make inks. She has already documented important stories of females that she knows, since no one seems to write about them. Ana considers her handiwork of these scrolls her most valuable possession.

At this time in history, a woman's role was decided by her parents and involved being a pawn in arranged marriages. A contract would be prepared for the marriage that was advantageous for the parents. Ana's parents had no intention of her prioritizing a writing career of any sort, and they would decide who she would marry. Love was not even a consideration.

Ana's father's sister Aunt Yalta came to live with the family. Yalta is a very strong and calculating woman... a bit of a rogue. She understands Ana better than anyone. They are like kindred spirits. Unlike Ana's parents, Yalta encourages Ana to utilize her talents and inner strength to become the woman she wants to be.

The writing style is very straightforward and easily digestible, the way I like it. Ana meets Jesus in a marketplace at the beginning of the book when she is 14. Without prior warning, Ana is being brought by her parents to meet an intended elderly husband. Nearby, Jesus is helping his sister Salome with some threads for sale at a market table. The second when Ana looks into Jesus's eyes for the first time was a beautiful "aha" moment. Decades later, Ana is right there in the street (along with her mother-in-law Mary) as Jesus is bearing the weight of the cross on his back, struggling with each step to his own execution. This is an incredible book about a very intelligent, strong, talented and brave woman. I am overwhelmed.

Thank you to Viking / Penguin Publishing Group for providing an advance reader copy via Edelweiss.