Very good - enjoyed how she tied in other stories of history into this fictitious novel

Cecilia borrowed me this book. It focuses on a woman who would become Jesus's wife. The author took a lot of "license" in writing this book. I thought it was "ok" not sure if I would recommend it or not.

Thoroughly researched, beautifully written, and completely plausible. Young men in Jesus’ time were expected to marry and support their family. I have no qualms imagining that Jesus could have lived a fully human life with flaws, desires, and regrets. In the deepest recesses of my mind, I wanted the details of this tale to be true. I want Ana and Yaltha and Chaya to be real. Kudos to author Sue Monk Kidd for having an open mind and the guts to give these female characters the strength and power to rise up and be heard!

Fantasy! I enjoyed the historical and cultural details.

Definitely another interesting book from this author celebrating women. The Secret Lives of Bees still tops my list.

I adored this fictional imagining of Jesus' wife, Ana of Nazareth. I appreciated the thorough research Monk did into not only the historical era, but with religious texts. Ana's story is of a girl who grew up dreaming of independence, and we are privileged to follow her through her own story of purpose and faith. It is true that Jesus himself is more of a guest star in the book, but I preferred it that way. The book is filled with the stories of strong women living in a time of total oppression. Their love for each other is what saw them through. Additionally, I would say that the book depicts Jesus more as revolutionary than Messiah - which I think really works to its favour. I found the story deeply moving, and the end had me in tears. Highly recommend.

I don't feel right giving this book a star rating, as I ended up DNF'ing it. However, I did get to the 82% mark, so I feel that I can speak on what exactly made me quit reading. I would like to say that the first part of the novel, which follows our protagonist, Ana, as she grows up in her parents' home and navigates an arranged marriage and advances from Herod, was interesting. I enjoyed reading about how she felt oppressed and just wanted to become a scribe, not a wife. However, the entire premise being that she is Jesus's wife felt more like a marketing ploy to hook readers into the book rather than an actual important plot point. Jesus spent most of his time off the page and many times "appeared" only when Ana was lamenting being separated from him for one reason or another (Jesus works away from home a lot, one of them must run to Alexandria or risk being arrested, etc.). This isn't necessarily what I had a problem with. What really irked me was that Ana became more irritating as the story went on. Even when she realized she was being selfish asking other characters for things, she still did those things, and for some reason the other characters went along with Ana's requests, even when there wasn't a solid relationship built between the two. Everything was a little too convenient for Ana, even as she was dealing with hardships.

A tepid attempt to fictionalize what has been suggested in many books (The Lost Gospel and Veritas) to name two, about Jesus having taken a wife. Did he? I doubt we will ever know given how scripture has been translated, retranslated, lost and found, etc over the centuries. It wouldn’t take a great leap of faith to believe it if he did. After all he was a rigidly devout Jewish man. It (marriage) was required by biblical law to do so. I did not finish this book not because I found it offensive or blasphemous, it wasn’t at all in my opinion. I just thought it was poorly written. I guess the greatest story ever told should be left well enough alone.

I loved this story and the writing is beautiful making it even more of a pleasure to read. I loved the idea of Jesus being married and who she might be and why history might have erased her. Sue Monk Lidd knows how to tell a good story of fiction based on extensive research. I highly recommend this.

A compelling and interesting historical fiction about an imagined wife of Jesus Christ named Ana. Be warned that this is decidedly Ana's story, not Jesus'; he is a secondary character. I think Kidd's greatest achievement in this novel is how evocative it is of its place and time - the Israel of Jesus' time is rendered with such skill and detail that I felt the heat and heard the sounds of the city. I don't want to stray into spoiler territory so suffice to say that this would be an excellent book club selection - Kidd's choices of what story to tell and how to fashion the character of Ana are fertile grounds for discussion.