Adult Book Club Discussion
The Book of Longings
Please join us for one of our meetings of our Adult Book Club scheduled for Tuesday, October 8, at 1:00 pm and Friday,
October 11, at 1:30 p.m. We will be discussing the book "The Book of Longings" by Sue Monk Kidd.
In her mesmerizing fourth work of fiction, Sue Monk Kidd takes an audacious approach to history and brings her acclaimed narrative gifts to imagine the story of a young woman named Ana. Raised in a wealthy family with ties to the ruler of Galilee, she is rebellious and ambitious, with a brilliant mind and a daring spirit. She engages in furtive scholarly pursuits and writes narratives about neglected and silenced women. Ana is expected to marry an older widower, a prospect that horrifies her. An encounter with eighteen-year-old Jesus changes everything.
Their marriage evolves with love and conflict, humor and pathos in Nazareth, where Ana makes a home with Jesus, his brothers, and their mother, Mary. Ana's pent-up longings intensify amid the turbulent resistance to Rome's occupation of Israel, partially led by her brother, Judas. She is sustained by her fearless aunt Yaltha, who harbors a compelling secret. When Ana commits a brazen act that puts her in peril, she flees to Alexandria, where startling revelations and greater dangers unfold, and she finds refuge in unexpected surroundings. Ana determines her fate during a stunning convergence of events considered among the most impactful in human history.
Grounded in meticulous research and written with a reverential approach to Jesus's life that focuses on his humanity, The Book of Longings is an inspiring, unforgettable account of one woman's bold struggle to realize the passion and potential inside her, while living in a time, place and culture devised to silence her. It is a triumph of storytelling both timely and timeless, from a masterful writer at the height of her powers.
Copies of the book are available for checkout at the library.
What: Adult Book Club
When/Where: Tuesday, October 8, at 1:00 p.m. - East Troy Lions Public Library
OR
When/Where: Friday, October 11, at 1:30 p.m. - East Troy Lions Public Library
East Troy Lions Public Library Adult Book Club Reading List 2024
January: The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson
February: Deep by James Nestor
March: Old Filth by Jane Gardam
April: Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom
May: Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate
June: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
July: Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
August: Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty by Anderson Cooper & K. Howe
September: The Yellow Bird Sings by Jennifer Rosner
October: The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd
November: Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See
December: The Boys by Kate Hefner
Series Sampler Book Club
For 4th - 6th Graders
