The novel focuses on
Ana, the daughter of the counselor and chief scribe to the tetrarch Herod
Antipas and stepsister of Judas. Her
father allows her a tutor so she learns to read and write, and her ambition is
to write the stories of women. On the
day that she is betrothed to an older widower, she meets Jesus, though it is
not until later that she marries him.
Because Jesus must travel for work as a stonemason/carpenter, he is
often away from home, leaving Ana with his mother Mary and his siblings. Their separation lengthens when Jesus begins
his ministry and Ana has to flee to Egypt.
From her first
appearance, when Ana is 14, she is a headstrong young woman with dreams of her
own. She accurately describes herself as
“willful, impulsive, composed of strange hopes and selfish rebellion.” Once she can read the Scriptures for herself,
she realizes there are women in it, but their stories are ignored and
forgotten: “I swore an oath to set down
their accomplishments and praise their flourishings, no matter how small.” She possesses what would be considered modern
sensibilities about women’s roles.
Fortunately, Ana meets
a man who respects and admires and loves the feisty Ana. Jesus supports her passions however he
can. Because the two are well-matched,
their relationship seems plausible. Ana
is certainly intellectually and spiritually curious. Like Ana, Jesus tries to figure out his path
in life. What is interesting is that
Ana’s yearnings may have “intimations of divinity” so both she and Jesus may
have a higher calling.
Of course, the book
focuses on Jesus as a human and de-emphasizes his divinity. The Biblical miracles are totally absent. For instance, reference is made a wedding in
Cana but no mention of the miracle that occurred there. Lazarus appears, but Jesus’ raising him from
the dead is omitted. Regardless, because
we know what will happen to Jesus, there is always a feeling of impending
doom. When references are made to John
the Baptist and the Garden of Gethsemane, dramatic irony works to create
suspense.
The novel is an
imaginative, woman-centred retelling of the New Testament. There are several strong female
characters. Besides Ana, there’s her
aunt Yaltha and her friend Tabatha both of whom suffer greatly at the hands of
men, their “lives and fates left to men.”
Though the book emphasizes the
voiceless status of women, several women find a way to express themselves and
tell their stories.
I found this an
interesting read. It cannot but leave
one questioning why, even though little is known of Jesus’ life as a young man,
it was decided that he was unmarried.
Ana asks, “Did they believe making him celibate rendered him more
spiritual? I found no answers, only the
sting of being erased.”
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