"I am Ana. I was the wife of Jesus ben Joseph of Nazareth." That's the way it begins and it only get more intriguing from there. I spent a good deal of time trying to decide if people will be offended by this book. Some people will be. I cannot predict or control who will be, but I assure you that Sue Monk Kidd has treated this speculative and controversial topic with utmost dignity and respect.
Unlike Christopher Moore's satiric Lamb, this book flows through the pages of Christian history, weaving in traditional Bible stories familiar to us all. From the age of 12 through the early 30's, we know little of life of Jesus. Historian and authors continue to unearth small pieces of evidence leading us to a fuller picture, but still not a complete one. Sue Monk Kidd stumbled across a National Geographic article by a Harvard professor called "The Gospel of Jesus's Wife." A small fragment references Jesus having said..."my wife...". The document has since been deemed false, yet it became the impetus for Monk Kidd's imagining of those lost years.
Much research went into this book - history, customs, rituals, laws, landscape, daily life - it's all there to add substance to what we already know. Just like in the Bible, we know how this book will end. The hero dies. The difference here is that all along the painful stations of the cross we feel the heartbreaking presence of a woman who had been his partner - a woman who loved Jesus, and who he loved in return.
This is not easy reading, but it is beyond compelling. Once you begin, you better have lots of coffee and M &Ms (my best reading snack) handy. You will not want to walk away for an instant.
Thanks for stopping by.
Be safe. Be healthy. Be happy.
Have a restful holiday weekend. No blogpost next week.
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