The Book of Longings

My only complaint is that Jesus was made to be a husband rather than just a character and piece of this incredible story. I would have preferred the sister of Judas being the tie into the gospel, only because the lack of biblical truths about Jesus and his character leaves his character in the book to feel incomplete.

Just had my heart filled to the brim and then gutted by this book. A friend recommended it to me, so I didn't look at the summary and just dove in. What a gorgeously written book. The language is poetic and heartfelt. Seeing everything through Ana's eyes was an organic-feeling primer for the class system and the catalyst for many religious movements in Biblical times. This book felt like a sister book to Circe by Madeline Miller in many ways.

Better than I'd expected but not as good as I'd hoped.

It was kind of like Jesus fanfic, if you can envision a weird parallel universe in which Jesus was compassionate, thoughtful, and loving; in which he preached nonviolence and kindness to the less fortunate. (There are, I hear, scattered pockets of Christianity that hold these heretical views.)

But this is not a book about Jesus. Fanfic veers into the interesting side channels not covered in the canon, good fanfic keeps the focus there with only occasional obligatory nods to the characters and events hardcoded in the mythology. This is good fanfic. Ana is a rich person in her own right, as are the characters in her orbit, and Kidd paints a convincing picture of daily life in an age of inequality, cruelty, misogyny and corruption. How fortunate we are today, that such concepts are almost-forgotten historical footnotes!

I was surprised by Kidd's decision to make Ana unsympathetic or at least not entirely likable. Ana is entitled and impulsive. There are many ways to express this in first-person narration, but Kidd writes her as unapologetic and even a little oblivious—which makes her more believable and, paradoxically, a little more sympathetic. This added a complexity that almost, but not quite, bumps the book to five stars.

But, overall, it was unevenly great. The writing is overly simple, declarative, bordering on YA. A touch more heavyhanded than it needed to be. There were occasional mystical elements (hazy dreams and premonitions) that added nothing of substance. And, sigh: corn? A crescent moon rising at sunset? Were those not caught, or were they caught and deliberately approved in hopes readers wouldn't notice?

I enjoyed this book. SMK is consistent, and you can see how much research she put into it. The strong women characters were wonderful, and I like the human side of Jesus. I did find it a sad read; it was hard to be a woman in biblical times, and it was very hard to be Jesus. She makes those hardships real. I recommend this for Christian friends and for those who are interested in the feminine divine and historical fiction.