THE BOOK OF LONGINGS | SUE MONK KIDD | 2020

If you’ve been brought up knowing the story of Jesus Christ you know that this book is not going to end well. But it does. It isn’t his story, although it’s there and yes, sad.

This is the story of his wife Ana. That’s right, a fictional wife of Jesus from the age of twenty until his death.

Ana’s story is hugely eventful, funny, wise, touching, and full of love. I couldn’t put it down. I hesitate to give too much away as it’s a great read but here goes.

Ana is fourteen at the beginning of the story. She’s from a wealthy family, she’s clever, rebellious, and in touch with her own wisdom. She’s encouraged by her aunt who is her sounding board and sidekick in her adventures. Now, this sounds like a bit of a Girls Own Annual take but it’s far from it.

My thoughts around Ana are that she is portrayed as pretty much perfect. That is a fault. I did expect Jesus to be perfect but the story doesn’t touch on the divine aspects of his life as enumerated in the Bible. The other characters are well-rounded and thoroughly believable. The situations that Ana faces are gruesome, anarchic and well-realised for the age; women are treated as second-class citizens, men must be married at twenty to be accepted as an adult, people are tortured and mob rule is only a stone throw away.

This is fiction but it reads like a memoir of what actually happened. If you’re thinking this is a biblical style tome you’d be incorrect as this is achingly human and written from a deeply human perspective. There’s so much about Jesus’ life, from what we know of the New Testament, that isn’t mentioned, and all that is explored is couched in Ana’s viewpoint and how it affects her.

The writing is warm and witty, it’s skilfully drafted and the amount of research that it must have entailed is staggering, but never on show. Scenes are writhing with credibility: sad, brutal, unfair, loving, wry, eye-popping in intensity. Some reviewers complain that there are inaccuracies from what they understand of the Bible.  Then there are those who claim that the Bible is also a work of fiction. Whatever your viewpoint, this is a delightful, engaging book and a credible peek into the lives of the first century.