I loved this, quite different from her other two books in its subject matter but just as riveting and spell bounding as The Invention of Wings and The Secret Life of Bees. Like these other two, this novel has a strong female lead in Ana, a young woman living 2000 years ago in what is now Syria and Israel. In a nutshell she meets and falls in love with Jesus, marrying him, being with him at the time of his trial and crucifixion. Sounds like a reworking of the New Testament from a different point of view? Absolutely not. According to the extensive author note at the end there has always been discussion as to whether Jesus did marry – apparently it is a requirement in the Jewish faith that all men marry, and there doesn’t seem to be anything anywhere saying he did or didn’t marry, so the author has taken this as cue – what would have happened if Jesus had a wife? This is that story. Ana’s has a privileged life, she can read and write as her father is the chief scribe to King Herod. Her intelligence, curiosity, refusal to be married off to an older man leads her into all sorts of trouble, but with her equally feisty and true to self aunt with her, she manages to escape this crippling life, marrying Jesus and moving to Nazareth. We all know what happens of course, so although the story of Jesus is central to the way this novel unfolds, it is told from Ana’a point of view and is 100% her life story. I loved it not just because a strong young woman is finding her voice, but also because this is almost like a geography and history lesson of the times. Descriptions of how people lived, their homes, clothing, food, social hierarchies, religions – fascinating and brilliantly described. I now want to go to Alexandria in Egypt – it sounds, even now, like the most incredible ancient and amazing place to visit.
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