"I saw Ana not only as the wife of Jesus, but as a woman with her own quest- that of following her longings in pursuit of the largeness inside herself. I saw her, too, as a woman able to become not only Jesus's wife, but his partner."

I very much enjoyed this book and found it to be incredibly compelling. I saw some reviews from other folks who were wary because it did not address Jesus's divinity at all. I'm not Christian and I do not believe in the divinity of Jesus, so this was not an issue for me. In fact, I think I enjoyed the book more because through Ana's eyes, we see Jesus as a radical, a leader, a man seeking to demonstrate how the kingdom of God is within people. Plus, the bulk of the story takes place before Jesus took up his ministry.

At first I found it strange that Ana and Jesus's relationship began with what I viewed as teenage infatuation, but from there the narrative flowed naturally. I loved the presence of women in the story. The author notes at the end how women were silenced during this time, the records of their lives nonexistent or lost. Women propel this story forward. I also liked that Ana had a life outside of Jesus; she longed for him in their separation, but she answered her own individual longings, too.