The Book of Longings : From the author of the international bestseller THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES

'I am Ana. I was the wife of Jesus.' So begins the exquisitely written
new novel from the No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of The Secret
Life of Bees and The Invention of Wings.


Ana is a rebellious young woman, a gifted writer
with a curious, brilliant mind, who writes secret narratives about the
neglected and silenced women around her. Raised in a wealthy family in
Galilee, she is sheltered from the brutality of Rome's occupation of
Israel. Ana is expected to marry an elderly widower to further her
father's ambitions, a prospect that horrifies her. A chance encounter
with the eighteen-year-old Jesus changes everything: his ideas and his
passion are intoxicating.


Taking Ana on a journey she could never have
imagined, The Book of Longings is a glorious evocation of a time and a
place where astounding events unfolded, and of one woman's fate when she
fights to make her voice heard.