Reviews with content warning for Violence - Il libro dei desideri

I had no idea what to expect from this book, having only read the synopsis. I was raised loosely Christian, but having lapsed well before adulthood, much of the story of Jesus is a mystery to me.

And so it remained. For this book wasn't about him or his life directly (it especially wasn't about any of his purported miracles, as this book focused on his humanity, not his deification). It was about Ana, his (non-canonical) wife. She served as a stand-in for all the women silenced during the time, whether in the Bible or in history, due to their sex. Her relationships with other women in the book was a highlight for me. The things each woman offered to the narrative illustrated well how women were marginalized, overlooked, and forgotten during this era. Even Ana's cold mother represented the unfairness (or lack) of marital rights for women.

I am not Christian. If anything, I'm anti-religion. But this book was about women and their relationships with their gods, not a narrative solely featuring Christ's time among humanity. As a feminist, I found it powerful, significant, and captivating. I highly recommend The Book of Longings.

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gem114's review against another edition

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informative reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Book of Longings is one of the most memorable books I've read this year. I know this one will stay with me for a long time, and I can definitely see myself rereading it. Having grown up Catholic, I would say I've spent a lot of time thinking about Jesus, and very little of that thought was about what he was like prior to beginning his ministry. Similarly, I've thought a lot about Mary, but very little about what her life and the lives of other women were like at the time. The Book of Longings is a beautiful exploration of both, with a focus on the latter. It is speculative historical fiction about a hypothetical wife of Jesus and her own longing for a voice. Like the Jesus I was taught about growing up, Ana challenges the status quo. She is progressive for her time, an educated woman willing to rebel against the path set by her parents in order to pursue her own vision for her future. Her story is a powerful one, both tragic and inspiring. I truly enjoyed considering Ana, who, if she were real, would be (in Sue Monk Kidd's words) the most silenced woman in history.

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ehmannky's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

If you liked Madeline Miller's Circe, I think you'll like this book. It has similar themes of pushing a woman to the center of a previously male-dominated story. I don't think it's *as* strong of a novel as Circe, but it hits on a lot of the same themes and is well-written and well-paced as a novel.

I really liked the depiction of Jesus in this book. Like, a good dude all around and the kind of Jesus I wish we grew up learning about. I personally would like us to have more Jesus stuff centered like this. I feel like... I get being a woman sucked ass for most of all time but I think that like this was just a little heavy on it. Like, I feel there could have been more to have Ana find joy and community in working with other woman doing what is traditionally *Women's work* instead of having her be bad at it eternally. It felt that yes, she was being stifled as a woman who wanted to write, but also it felt very demeaning to the work that all the other woman who aren't ~extraordinary~ do in the novel. Like, for a novel that's all about telling the unsung stories of women (which it does do in some regards), it sure doesn't like...care too deeply about the ones who actually cooked for and clothed the extraordinary ones.

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raeshala's review against another edition

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challenging inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Started off great but failed to keep my interest.

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busy_izzi's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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rebeccarudisill's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Achingly beautiful and thoroughly engrossing, this book is a powerful statement of the importance of giving a voice to women. It shows just how resilient women can be in the face of oppressive circumstances. We get to meet a human, loving, complex Jesus through the eyes of someone who knows him not as a prophet and Messiah, but as a good man and kind husband. We get to meet God in complicated, nuanced ways, including as the feminine Spirit of God (Hi Sophia - you rock!). And while I loved every second of it, this book broke my heart.

Ana misses all of the beautiful, uplifting parts of Jesus’ ministry and only reunites with him on the way to the cross. I wanted so much for Ana to receive the gospel, but she misses the resurrection in order to go back to the home and family she has built in Egypt. While I cannot begrudge Ana her found family or her joy, I wish she could have met her husband Jesus as the resurrected King. She gets a brief meeting with him 2.5 years later, but it’s written off as likely just a dream, not an encounter with God. I just hate that she missed out on the glory of seeing Jesus on the other side of Easter.

This book is 1000% worth the read and the long think you will have about it afterwards.

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emberysing's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

personally, it means a lot to me to read such a beautiful story get to the heart of my spirituality without traditional restraints. and it’s women! women women women finally in the narrative telling their stories their way! honestly, I have been starved of reading about women in this kind of spiritual context and <b>what for</b>.

overall this just isn’t my type of story, and I couldn’t really connect to the main characters as much as I would’ve liked to have. but there’s a lot of heart in the story. it’s wonderful storytelling.

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v171's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

What's the book version of Oscar bait? Pulitzer bait? What ever it is, this book is that. It was a very charming story, and emotional at times, but I couldn't help but feel that it was, as another reviewer put it, bible fan fiction. And I don't know that the author would necessarily disagree with that. The authors note was very honest and insightful into her concerns and thinking when deciding whether to write this story, and I found that refreshing to hear. I enjoyed how the characters were written and the over arching story was an interesting one.

But with that being said, I still just can't get over the thought that this was an easy capitalization on creating a feminist bible story, filled with headstrong, flawless women and modern motivations. I'm torn on the purpose of this story. It is clearly centered on Ana, the wife of Jesus, but it is so focused on her that Jesus is not present for the vast majority of the book. He only exists as someone to be, well, longed after off screen (off page?). One might argue that is the purpose of the story: focus on Ana as Jesus already has his own story. But to that, my response would be -- why make it about Jesus at all? What additional insights were we supposed to walk away with by making this a Jesus love story that he was hardly present in?

Would this have been a stronger story if it was not about the bible? No, probably not. As historical fiction, it fell flat because the characters felt far too modern, so maybe the only way to salvage it WAS to associate it with the bible. But I also didn't feel that this story challenged the reader to reconsider how they approach Christian texts. It was literally just bible fan fiction.

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