Published by: Penguin Publishing GroupPages: 433
ISBN13: 978-0143111399
Buy the Book: Penguin Random House, Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, IndieBound, Bookshop.org, Google Play, Audible
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Penguin Publishing Group978-0143111399
Overview
• Published by Viking, April 21, 2020
• Instant New York Times Bestseller
• #1 IndieBound Bestseller
Reading: The Book of Longings – Sue Monk Kidd
An extraordinary story set in the first century about a woman who finds her voice and her destiny, from the celebrated number one New York Times bestselling author of The Secret Life of Bees and The Invention of Wings
In her hypnotize fourth work of fiction, Sue Monk Kidd takes an audacious approach to history and brings her acclaim narrative gifts to imagine the floor of a unseasoned woman named Ana. Raised in a affluent kin with ties to the rule of Galilee, she is rebellious and ambitious, with a brilliant thinker and a avant-garde spirit. She engages in backstair scholarly pursuits and writes narratives about neglected and silenced women. Ana is expected to marry an older widower, a expectation that horrifies her. An find with eighteen-year-old Jesus changes everything .
Their marriage evolves with love and conflict, humor and pathos in Nazareth, where Ana makes a home with Jesus, his brothers, and their mother, Mary. Ana ’ s pent-up longings intensify amid the disruptive immunity to Rome ’ s occupation of Israel, partially led by her brother, Judas. She is sustained by her unafraid aunt Yaltha, who harbors a compel privy. When Ana commits a brazen act that puts her in hazard, she flees to Alexandria, where startling revelations and greater dangers blossom, and she finds recourse in unexpected surroundings. Ana determines her destiny during a stun convergence of events considered among the most impactful in human history .
Grounded in meticulous inquiry and written with a respectful overture to Jesus ’ s life that focuses on his world, The Book of Longings is an inspiring, unforgettable account of one woman ’ sulfur bluff conflict to realize the love and potential inside her, while living in a time, station and culture devised to silence her. It is a victory of storytelling both timely and dateless, from a consummate writer at the altitude of her powers .
Behind the Scenes
Q & A with historical photos from Sue ‘s solicitation
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Readers’ Guide/Book Club Kit
lamb Reader
Discussion Questions
A conversation with Sue Monk Kidd
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Praise
“ Kidd is brave in imagining the life of Jesus as a married world. How many authors would take this on ? … The Book of Longings is not equitable an extraordinary novel, but one with lasting power … Kidd ‘s magnificence shines through on so many levels, but not the least in her consummate, respectful approach to capturing Jesus of Nazareth as a fully homo young homo in his 20 ‘s. … an epic masterpiece that is a victory of penetration and storytelling. ”
Associated Press
“ A high think first-person narrative … In addition to providing a woman-centered translation of New Testament events, Kidd ’ south fresh is besides a vibrant portrayal of a womanhood striving to preserve and celebrate women ’ s stories—her own and countless others. ”
Publishers Weekly, Starred Review 
” historical fabrication page-turner … An excellent record club choice … The intensity, courage, and strength of character of Ana, as imagined by Kidd will inspire readers but in a different means : to live authentically and remain true to oneself. ”
Library Journal, Starred Review
” Kidd ‘s bold narrative revisionism allows for her supporter to be in every deference the adequate of her husband while posing this interrogate : How would western culture be different if men and women had grown in appreciation of each other ‘s spirit ? ”
O Magazine
“ Sue Monk Kidd believes writing is an dissemble of courage. In “ The Book of Longings, ” she rises to the occasion. ”
The New York Times: Inside the List
“ Kidd ’ s narrative, etched into the emotionally accurate and haptic prose of Ana ’ s first-person voice. .. is not an attack to rewrite history. alternatively it ’ s an exploration of a exultant, fierce intent and the stories she aches to tell. There ’ randomness an exuberance to Ana that vibrates off every page, and that is a testament to Kidd ’ s gifts. ”
BookPage
” I kept having to close this novel and breathe profoundly, again and again. A radical reimagining of the New Testament that reflects on women ‘s longing and silence and hush and awaken, it is a true masterpiece. ”
Glennon Doyle, Untamed
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Excerpt
one.
I am Ana. I was the wife of Jesus ben Joseph of Nazareth. I called him Beloved and he, laughing, called me Little Thunder. He said he heard rumblings inside me while I slept, a strait like thunder from far over the Nahal Zippori valley or even farther beyond the Jordan. I don ’ metric ton doubt he heard something. All my life sentence, longings lived inside me, rising up like nocturnes to wail and sing through the night. That my husband bent his heart to mine on our sparse straw mat and listened was the forgivingness I most loved in him. What he heard was my biography begging to be born .
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