I really enjoyed Anna’s story. I liked her strength and her character. Sue Monk Kidd is an amazing storyteller, and I would have loved this book had Anna been married to anyone else. I really struggled with the idea of Jesus having a wife.

The Author’s Note did shed some light and what the author was going for, and I wish I had read that first.

Thank you to Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Viking, for the opportunity to read and review this ebook.

This was a good choice for one of my book clubs; what do you want in a book club book? Discussion! And, there was much to talk about, as the entire premise was thought-provoking. It also prompted me to look up several things, and I learned a lot. I also realized (once again) that I appreciate that I live in the times that I do! I just had trouble wrapping my head around the idea of a married Jesus, with a wife who was never mentioned in any of the basic scriptures. Some of the inclusions and omissions were curious to me. For instance, why was the Resurrection itself never mentioned?

This story follows Ana, the sister for Judas. She is forced into an arranged marriage and meets Jesus whom she falls in love with. She must learn to navigate the life she has chosen while dealing the with the repercussions of walking away from the life her family expected her to follow.

I was really really hoping I would like this book. But it was not what I was expecting.
I’ve seen a ton of people loving this one. So don’t let my short review keep you from reading it. It may be the perfect book for someone.

Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful. Magical book and thoroughly engrossing story. I felt completely connected to the characters and loved how much of a span of time this book covered. I love a story that spans decades and takes us through as if we are floating through the air behind the characters seeing every moment they live. It has haunted me ever since I finished.

Sue Monk Kidd is a master of storytelling and this book is no exception.
Everything she writes is magic!

Wow. This was lovely. I had some cognitive dissonance because in this story, Jesus was married. I loved Anna, the main character, and her telling of stories that I grew up hearing. I did ugly cry, but it was totally worth it.

I am not a religious person, but I wanted to see how the author envisioned Jesus and his life during the "lost years." I appreciated this novel for many reasons, but mostly because it shows a very human Jesus seen from the point of view of a woman, something the Bible does not offer.

The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd is one of the most beautiful historical fiction novels I've ever read. I think readers who are religious and non-religious alike can read this and see the man and appreciate the man, not the diety, who was Jesus of Nazareth. Monk Kidd paints a picture in their minds of what it was for him to be a human being and to have other human beings in his life. I think, even if one does not believe in the divinity of Jesus, they can appreciate his importance during and beyond his time.

This book was hard to get into at first, but then it got going. I love the way that Sue Monk Kidd write, almost prose. This book didn't let me down.

Beautiful, spiritual, deep. Sue Monk Kidd does it again. Thank you to NatGalley for the advance reader’s copy.

I'm ashamed to say I didn't finish this book. Typically I love Sue Monk Kidd, but I really struggled to get into this book. It just didn't captivate me the way I was hoping it would.

I received an arc of this title for an honest review. I like Sue Monk Kidd's books but at the time, this book was too dark for me.

This book answers the question, what if Jesus was married? The answer is pretty fascinating but often not as nuanced as I would have liked. The characters don't have much depth and rarely do anything that goes against their type. Still, Sue Monk Kidd's view of history is believable and worth the trip.

This is a beautifully written, well researched, fiction book that brought the story of the historical version of Jesus alive through the voice and story of Ana, his wife. Highly recommended.

I wasn't sure how I'd feel about this book as someone who is fairly non-religious, but my aunt (who shares a lot of my reading taste) encouraged me to pick it up and I'm so glad I did. This retelling (?) was a fascinating and incredibly well written story with such a unique premise that it'd be perfect for a book club or discussion setting. I'd almost recommend not even trying to read it solo as it's perfect for discussion and I got even more out of it after talking about it with fellow readers.

At the end of the day, this one wasn’t for me. I tried to not let my religion influence my thoughts, but I couldn’t do it.

I feel like this has its audience, but I’m not it.

I hesitated to read this one for a long time, but around Easter weekend I finally caved and picked it up. I love Sue Monk Kidd's past works so very much, but the premise of this one bothered me. I just couldn't imagine Jesus with a wife. It was a good read. The only thing missing for me was the supernatural element to Jesus and his life, as well as the fact that He was born of a virgin, chosen to be the Messiah even before conception, and rose again on the third day. I would have loved this book so much if all that had been included. However, I realize that the intent was to give a fictionalized account of the historical Jesus, and this was very well done and unsurprisingly well written.

Fantastic book! What a wonderfully original and imaginative story. The plot is rich and filled with historical context. Anna is an extremely well developed character whose story is remarkably believable. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

This was a story set in the time of Jesus as we follow Ana, his fictional wife. As she grapples with the freedom she desires growing up as a rich girl that was encouraged to read and to write by her father and the expectations of women at her time. When she was marriagable age which is when you get your cycle then her parents start trying to marry her off to an older man with daughters her own age.

There were so many different women in this story and this felt like the story was about the women. About the struggles and restrictions and despair. But also the hope and love and life. The girls sold into marriage, the raped punished for speaking, the banished abused wives, the list goes on -these were all the right of the husband, father and brother and still are in some places. And the slander was encouraged by the mobs. I've read the Bible stories you can talk to a man and you are a fornicater; even if he raped you, it's your fault. They are still saying that now, it's f-ing terrorizing.

To be honest, if Jesus did have a wife he would have been the loving husband described in this story but his calling took him on the road from her as was expected. I believe that it isn't unreasonable that Jesus would have been married as he was a Jewish man in that time, it would have been expected. I would have loved that he had a family but for him to be more divine he couldn't be seen as human like others, he has to be above so I'm not sure if we know all the details, women were superfluous details to men's stories.

Ana might be seen as naive or foolish with all the impulsive actions and the trouble she gets into. Let me remind you this was her life from the ages of 14-21. Omg I was an absolute moron at that age, maybe you made better choices. I just saw some reviews saying she wasn't very mature but she was so young but it was a different time. 

I enjoyed the history and scriptures that followed the same path weaving in a fictional story to give them more humanity. 

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

Thank you @netgalley and @vikingbooks for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.