From start to finish, she provides rich historical detail, adding minor touches to her canvas to paint a full picture of Ana's life. As the action moves to Egypt, Kidd elaborates on culture in Alexandria, one of the most cosmopolitan cities of the day. Readers consequently get a glimpse of how women of status were viewed as well as those who labored within a poorer community. Having Ana's situation change radically throughout the course of the novel is a brilliant concept it enables the author to explore multiple aspects of female society while fully developing her main character. Ana's longings are palpable throughout the book, and while she ages and matures, the undercurrent of desire remains constant, never abating.
She continually expresses a yearning to pursue her passion in spite of most of those around her insisting literacy is incompatible with her role in society only her aunt and husband seem to understand her compulsion.
Throughout Ana's life, first as the daughter of a high-ranking official, then as the wife of a poor carpenter and finally as a member of a community devoted to study and prayer, her obsession is to write.
The work's title, The Book of Longings, describes the heart of this novel perfectly. Oh, and incidentally, Ana proclaims herself to have been the wife of Jesus of Nazareth. Telling her story in the first person, Ana relays her journey from adolescent to aged wisewoman, along the way illustrating the challenges faced by women of her day, particularly those determined to have a voice in a culture where they were largely invisible.
The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd follows the life of Ana, a woman born in the Galilean city of Sepphoris at the start of what would become known as the Christian Era. Sue Monk Kidd's The Book of Longings delves into ancient history, exploring life in first-century Judea.
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