In her fourth work of fiction, Sue Monk Kidd brings her acclaimed narrative and imaginative gifts to telling the story of the wife of Jesus, whom we first encounter as the 16-year-old Ana, daughter of the head scribe to Herod. Kidd imagines her as a devout yet rebellious and ambitious young woman with a brilliant, curious mind and a fiery, seeking spirit, yearning for a pursuit that is worthy of her life, for a destiny, for a quest. She is a relentless asker of questions, a writer of psalms and narratives, a furtive scholar - but with no outlet for her gifts. When she meets the eighteen-year old Jesus, both are drawn to and enriched by each other's philosophical and spiritual ideas. He becomes a floodgate for her intellect, a way to be understood, and perhaps loved. Kidd's novel takes place primarily during the eighteen-year span--from his twelfth to his thirtieth year--where the record on Jesus's life is largely blank. The Book of Longings is a story of attachment, separation, exile, and reunion, grounded in an authentic and meticulously researched world of first century Palestine and Alexandria, and set aloft through imagination.