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Sue Monk Kidd is the author of the highly acclaimed bestsellers The Secret Life of Bees and The Mermaid Chair. The Secret Life of Bees was her first novel. Selling over 6 million copies, it has become a modern classic and has been adapted into a feature film starring Queen Latifah, Dakota Fanning and Jennifer Hudson.
Author photo © Roland Scarpa
What if Jesus had married? What kind of woman would he marry? Who would marry him? These questions are at the heart of Sue Monk Kidd’s sweepingly inventive The Book of Longings. Ana, with her “turbulent black curls and eyes the colour of rainclouds” and a narrative voice that sweeps you up in its bold passion, was born into a wealthy Galilean family. Sharp-minded and a gifted writer, Ana secretly transcribes the stories of matriarchs in the scriptures, women omitted from the records: “To be ignored, to be forgotten, this was the worst sadness of all. I swore an oath to set down their accomplishments and praise their flourishings, no matter how small. I would be a chronicler of lost stories.” Ana seems destined to marry an elderly widower to further her father’s career (he’s the closest adviser to Herod Antipas, whom Ana despises), until she encounters eighteen-year-old Jesus and is emboldened and aroused by his revolutionary ideas: “I called him Beloved and he, laughing, called me Little Thunder.” Jesus understands Ana’s longings, her “life begging to be born,” and she loves his kindness, his capacity for listening. Of course, we know how the real-life narrative plays out, but this affecting story gets under the skin as familiar events unfold through Ana’s eyes, as a proto-feminist, as wife of Jesus, as sister of Judas. Visit our 'Women's Words - 60+ works of feminist-minded fiction' to explore our collection of feminist-minded fiction from around the world, and across centuries.
What if Jesus had married? What kind of woman would he marry? Who would marry him? These questions are at the heart of Sue Monk Kidd’s sweepingly inventive The Book of Longings. Ana, with her “turbulent black curls and eyes the colour of rainclouds” and a narrative voice that sweeps you up in its bold passion, was born into a wealthy Galilean family. Sharp-minded and a gifted writer, Ana secretly transcribes the stories of matriarchs in the scriptures, women omitted from the records: “To be ignored, to be forgotten, this was the worst sadness of all. I swore an oath to set down their accomplishments and praise their flourishings, no matter how small. I would be a chronicler of lost stories.” Ana seems destined to marry an elderly widower to further her father’s career (he’s the closest adviser to Herod Antipas, whom Ana despises), until she encounters eighteen-year-old Jesus and is emboldened and aroused by his revolutionary ideas: “I called him Beloved and he, laughing, called me Little Thunder.” Jesus understands Ana’s longings, her “life begging to be born,” and she loves his kindness, his capacity for listening. Of course, we know how the real-life narrative plays out, but this affecting story gets under the skin as familiar events unfold through Ana’s eyes, as a proto-feminist, as wife of Jesus, as sister of Judas. Visit our 'Women's Words - 60+ works of feminist-minded fiction' to explore our collection of feminist-minded fiction from around the world, and across centuries.
October 2014 Book of the Month. Divided into two first-person, alternating narration, this is strong stuff. One first person, Sarah Grimke, is the daughter of a rich, influential Charleston family in early 19th century Southern America. The second narrative is Handful, one of their slaves. Sarah and her sister become increasing troubled by slavery. Handful suffers cruelty and indignities. Both women’s stories are passionate. The tale is made stronger by being based on a true story. Sarah and her sister were pioneers of the abolition movement. Handful’s story is fictional but based on the history of so many American slaves. It is very moving. Highly recommended.
From the celebrated author of the international bestseller The Secret Life of Bees comes an extraordinary novel about two exceptional women. Sarah Grimke is the middle daughter. The one her mother calls difficult and her father calls remarkable. On Sarah's eleventh birthday, Hetty 'Handful' Grimke is taken from the slave quarters she shares with her mother, wrapped in lavender ribbons, and presented to Sarah as a gift. Sarah knows what she does next will unleash a world of trouble. She also knows that she cannot accept. And so, indeed, the trouble begins ...A powerful, sweeping novel, inspired by real events, and set in the American Deep South in the nineteenth century, THE INVENTION OF WINGS evokes a world of shocking contrasts, of beauty and ugliness, of righteous people living daily with cruelty they fail to recognise; and celebrates the power of friendship and sisterhood against all the odds.
Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily's fierce-hearted black 'stand-in mother', Rosaleen, insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily decides to spring them both free. They escape to Tiburon, South Carolina - a town that holds the secret to her mother's past. Taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters, Lily is introduced to their mesmerizing world of bees and honey. And there Lily starts a journey as much about her understanding of the world as about the mystery surrounding her mother.
The No. 1 New York Times bestseller. THE INVENTION OF WINGS by Sue Monk Kidd was selected as an Oprah Book Club 2.0 pick on December 10, 2013. From the celebrated author of the international bestseller The Secret Life of Bees comes an extraordinary novel about two exceptional women. Sarah Grimke is the middle daughter. The one her mother calls difficult and her father calls remarkable. On Sarah's eleventh birthday, Hetty 'Handful' Grimke is taken from the slave quarters she shares with her mother, wrapped in lavender ribbons, and presented to Sarah as a gift. Sarah knows what she does next will unleash a world of trouble. She also knows that she cannot accept. And so, indeed, the trouble begins ... A powerful, sweeping novel, inspired by real events, and set in the American Deep South in the nineteenth century, THE INVENTION OF WINGS evokes a world of shocking contrasts, of beauty and ugliness, of righteous people living daily with cruelty they fail to recognise; and celebrates the power of friendship and sisterhood against all the odds.
Don't miss the extraordinary new novel from Sue Monk Kidd, The Book of Longings - published on 21st April 2020, and available to pre-order now The Mermaid Chair: The No. 1 New York Times bestseller and award-winning novel, from the celebrated author of The Secret Life of Bees and The Invention of Wings. A beautiful and haunting exploration of human relationships, personal fulfilment and spirituality. 'Highly charged... full of sexual and spiritual desire. Every bit as moving and convincing as The Secret Life of Bees' Mirror 'Beautiful writing...Kidd's characters cherish storytelling' USA Today 'It's hard to put this book down for little things like sleeping and eating' Elle In her forties, and married for half her life, Jessie Sullivan honestly believes that she is happy. She has a lovely home, a dependable husband and an accomplished and adored teenage daughter. But when shocking news about her mother compels Jessie to visit the island where she grew up, she finds herself drawn to Brother Thomas, a Benedictine monk on the verge of taking his final vows. Amidst the seductive beauty of the South Carolina salt marshes, Jessie is torn between powerful new longings and her enduring marriage. After all these years she is finally beginning to understand who she really is and where she belongs. But she has still to discover how much of her old life has a place in the new one. What readers are saying about The Mermaid Chair: 'I was drawn in from the first sentence and felt emotionally attached to each and every one of the characters. Couldn't put it down; loved it' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars 'The telling of the tale was thoughtful and very beautiful and I felt that I'd shared Jessie's journey' Amazon reviewer, 5 stars 'This is a wonderful novel, spellbinding with characters that you can wholly visualise and want to know. The writing is very strong and not for a long time have I remembered the style, flavour and feeling of a novelist's writing long after I've finished it' Amazon reviewer, 5 stars 'This book spoke right to my heart, right to the pull and tug of what it is to be a woman, a wife, a mother. This book is beautifully written and has become my favourite amongst the Sue Monk Kidd novels that I have devoured' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars
'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.
"e;I was amazed to find that I had no idea how to unfold my spiritual life in a feminine way. I was surprised, and, in fact, a little terrified, when I found myself in the middle of a feminist spiritual reawakening."e; -Sue Monk KiddFor years, Sue Monk Kidd was a conventionally religious woman. Then, in the late 1980s, she experienced an unexpected awakening, and began a journey toward a feminine spirituality. With the exceptional storytelling skills that have helped make her name, Kidd tells her very personal story of the fear, anger, healing, and freedom she experienced on the path toward the wholeness that many women have lost in the church.From a jarring encounter with sexism in a suburban drugstore, to monastery retreats and to rituals in the caves of Crete, she reveals a new level of feminine spiritual consciousness for all women-one that retains a meaningful connection with the "e;deep song of Christianity,"e; embraces the sacredness of ordinary women's experience, and has the power to transform in the most positive ways every fundamental relationship in a woman's life-her marriage, her career, and her religion.
Megindito regeny a remenyrol, a batorsagrol es a szabadsag kereseserol Hetty rabszolga a kora 19. szazadi Charlestonban. A szenvedesen tuli eletrol, szabadsagrol almodik. Jomodu gazdainak lanya, a csillapithatatlan tudasszomj es lazado eszmek altal hajtott Sarah kislanykora ota keresi a hivatasat a vilagban, de fogva tartjak a nokre kenyszeritett tarsadalmi kotelekek. A tizeves Hetty szobalanykent a mindossze egy evvel idosebb Sarah tulajdonaba kerul. A Szarnyak nelkul szabadon kettejuk eletutjat koveti vegig: azt, hogy mikent alakitjak dramai modon egymas sorsat, es hogyan alakul ki a bun, a dac, az elidegenedes es az ambivalens szeretet altal meghatarozott, osszetett viszonyuk. Hetty megismeri a banat es a gyasz ertelmet, s egyre inkabb raeszmel, ki is o valojaban. Sarah utjat osszetort remenyek, arulas, viszonzatlan szerelem es szamuzetes szegelyezik. Vajon mit tartogat szamukra a faji es tarsadalmi eloiteletektol terhes 19. szazadi Delen az elet, vajon kepesek lesznek-e szarnyak nelkul is szarnyalni? Sue Monk Kidd magaval ragado es megindito regenye a remenyrol, a batorsagrol, a szabadsag kereseserol szol. Remekmu, melyet vilagszerte tobb mint egymillio peldanyban adtak el, s tobb mint husz nyelvre forditottak le. A Georgia Allamban szuletett Sue Monk Kidd elso regenye, A mehek titkos elete tobb mint szaz heten keresztul szerepelt a New York Times sikerlistajan, es csaknem hatmillio peldany kelt el belole. A Szarnyak nelkul szabadon megjeleneset kovetoen azonnal a New York Times sikerlistajanak elere kerult, s Oprah Winfrey elismert konyvklubja bevalasztotta ajanlott olvasmanyai koze. "e;Lehetetlen ugy elolvasni ezt a konyvet, hogy utana ne gondolnank maskent sajat noi helyzetunkre, es azokra a kiveteles nokre, akik szerepet jatszottak abban, hogy oda juthattunk, ahol most vagyunk. Elkepeszto teljesitmeny."e; (Oprah Winfrey) A Konyvjelzo magazin 2015. aprilisi szamaban megjelent cikk: Okkal lazadok A Konyvjelzo magazin 2015. juniusi szamaban megjelent cikk: A rabszolgasag az amerikai holokauszt
Zachem cheloveku kryl'ya? Mozhet byt', dlya togo, chtoby voznestis' nad suetoj obydennoj zhizni i ponyat', chto takoe nadezhda i svoboda.Istoriya, rasskazannaya v romane, razvivaetsya na protyazhenii tridcati pyati let. Na dolyu dvuh geroin', prinadlezhashchih k raznym social'nym sloyam, no svyazannyh odnoj sud'boj, vypadut tyazhelejshie zhiznennye ispytaniya: predatel'stvo, razbitye mechty, neschastnaya lyubov'. No s yunyh let geroini veryat, chto oni sposobny izmenit' mir. Oni veryat, chto obretut kryl'ya... Vpervye na russkom yazyke!
Kniga-vzryv, kniga-simvol, kniga-nadezhda! EHffekt, kotoryj ona proizvela po vyhode, sravnim s volnoj, bukval'no vskolyhnuvshej Ameriku, kogda uvidela svet znamenitaya "e;Ubit' peresmeshnika... Harper Li ili "e;Nad propast'yu vo rzhi Dzh. D. Sehlindzhera. V zhizn' chetyrnadcatiletnej Lili vtorgayutsya pchely. EHto namek na to, chto v mire est' mesto rayu i nuzhno lish' prilozhit' usilie, chtoby otyskat' dorogu k nemu. I tam, v medovyh sadah EHdema, ty snova obretesh' schast'e, i mama, propavshaya mnogo let nazad, budet zhdat' tebya na poroge doma, i vy uzhe ne rasstanetes' nikogda-nikogda.
Lily has grown up believing she accidentally killed her mother when she was four. She not only has her own memory of holding the gun, but her father's account of the event. Now fourteen, she yearns for her mother, and for forgiveness. Living on a peach farm in South Carolina with her father, she has only one friend: Rosaleen, a black servant whose sharp exterior hides a tender heart. South Carolina in the sixties is a place where segregation is still considered a cause worth fighting for. When racial tension explodes one summer afternoon, and Rosaleen is arrested and beaten, Lily is compelled to act. Fugitives from justice and from Lily's harsh and unyielding father, they follow a trail left by the woman who died ten years before. Finding sanctuary in the home of three beekeeping sisters, Lily starts a journey as much about her understanding of the world, as about the mystery surrounding her mother.
