Ana's journey culminates in these final chapters, bringing both resolution and a sense of enduring legacy. After grappling with love, loss, and societal constraints, she emerges as a woman who redefines her identity and ensures her voice will resonate through time. The narrative weaves together personal revelation, communal bonds, and a defiant act of preservation, leaving a lasting impression.
Chapter 106: I Never Left
At the Therapeutae community, Yaltha assures Ana that Haran's quest for revenge is likely over, citing his soldiers' discontent and unwillingness to pay them more. She believes they are safe and can wait for the old man to die. In a moment of profound belonging, Yaltha announces she has taken her vows to join the community for life. Inspired, Diodora, Ana, and Tabitha all declare their intention to do the same, solidifying their bond as a chosen family.
Twenty-two months later, Ana works late in her expanded scriptorium, copying her codex, Thunder: Perfect Mind. Exhausted, she falls asleep at her desk, smudging the ink on the line, “I am the wife.” Waking with ink on her cheek, she is overcome with grief for Jesus, a pain that feels inescapable. Suddenly, she sees Jesus standing across the room, wearing his old, bloodstained cloak—the same one she has draped over her shoulders. He feels real, his hands warm and callused, smelling of wood chips. He tells her, “I never left,” before vanishing. Ana understands this is not a physical resurrection but a vision, a miracle of her own mind. The experience is profoundly healing, as she feels his spirit has returned to her. In a symbolic act of closure, she neatly folds his cloak and places it in a cubicle, saying, “All shall be well.”
Chapter 107: She Was a Voice
Three decades leap forward, and Ana, now fifty-eight, leads the Therapeutae. She, Diodora, and Tabitha, who have lived as sisters for thirty years, hike up a cliffside carrying heavy pouches filled with thirty leather-bound copies of Ana’s writings. Their task is to bury these codices in two large clay jars to preserve them for the future. Four years earlier, just before her death at eighty-five, Yaltha had a moment of foresight, urging Ana to bury her work, prophesying that men would feel threatened by her radical words and try to destroy them. This act of burial fulfills a promise to her aunt.
The women solemnly wrap each codex in a piece of Jesus’s cloak, which Ana has cut into fragments, symbolically protecting her words with his memory. Ana also places the mummy portrait she once commissioned for Jesus into one of the jars. She reflects on news that Jesus’s followers are growing in number but are erasing her from his story, speaking of him as having had no wife. She feels the “sting of being erased,” reinforcing the importance of preserving her own narrative. This burial is an act of defiance against her own historical silencing and a central expression of the theme of Feminism and Women's Voices.
After sealing the jars with beeswax, Ana, Diodora, and Tabitha lower them into the earth and cover them. Ana feels a sense of peace and completion, acknowledging that while the echoes of her life may fade, the life itself was a "shining thing." As the sun sets, she looks into the distance and makes her final, definitive declaration, the one that frames the entire novel and fulfills her lifelong quest for identity. She proclaims, “I am Ana. I was the wife of Jesus of Nazareth. I am a voice.”
Key Events
- Ana, Yaltha, Diodora, and Tabitha commit to the vows of the Therapeutae, solidifying their found family.
- Twenty-two months after Jesus's death, Ana has a powerful vision of him in her scriptorium, helping her process her grief.
- The narrative jumps forward thirty years, revealing Ana is now 58 and the leader of the Therapeutae.
- A dying Yaltha instructs Ana to bury her writings to protect them from future suppression.
- Ana, Diodora, and Tabitha ceremonially bury all of Ana’s codices, wrapped in pieces of Jesus’s cloak, to preserve her voice for posterity.
- Ana makes her final declaration of identity, claiming her name, her relationship to Jesus, and her role as a "voice."
Character Development
- Ana: Ana completes her transformation from a girl with hidden longings to a woman who is a leader, a writer, and the matriarch of her own chosen family. Her vision of Jesus allows her to move past the most debilitating stage of her grief into a state of peaceful remembrance. Her final act of burying her work is the ultimate fulfillment of her life's purpose: to ensure her voice, and the voices of other women, are not erased by history.
- Yaltha: Even after her death, Yaltha’s wisdom and foresight guide Ana. Her final instruction to bury the codices demonstrates her fierce belief in the power and importance of Ana’s words, cementing her role as Ana's lifelong mentor and protector.
- Ana, Diodora, and Tabitha: Their relationship evolves into a lifelong sisterhood. They become a family unit and work together to preserve Ana's legacy, showcasing the novel's emphasis on the strength of female community.
Themes & Symbols
- Feminism and Women's Voices: This theme culminates in the final chapters. The act of burying the codices is a direct response to the threat of patriarchal erasure. Yaltha’s prophecy and Ana’s knowledge that she is being written out of Jesus’s story underscore the urgent need to preserve female narratives.
- The Search for Self and Personal Longing: Ana’s final declaration—“I am Ana... I am a voice”—is the ultimate resolution of her lifelong search for identity. She defines herself not only in relation to Jesus but as an individual with her own power and legacy.
The novel employs potent symbols to reinforce its central themes:
- The Buried Codices: The writings in the jars symbolize all suppressed or forgotten women's histories. Burying them is an act of faith—a hope that future generations will unearth them and restore what was lost. The novel itself is framed as one of these unearthed texts.
- Jesus’s Cloak: The cloak, once a tangible symbol of Ana’s grief, is transformed into a sacred relic used to protect her writings. By cutting it into pieces to wrap her codices, she merges her legacy with Jesus's, suggesting their stories are intertwined and equally worthy of preservation.
- The Incantation Bowl: The bowl, a gift from Yaltha at the start of Ana's journey as a writer, reappears at the end. Chanting the prayer from it as she buries her life's work brings her story full circle, connecting her earliest longings to their ultimate fulfillment.
Significance
These concluding chapters serve as the novel’s epilogue, providing resolution to Ana's emotional and spiritual journey while simultaneously establishing the narrative framework for the entire book. The story we have just read is presented as the contents of the buried jars, making the reader a participant in their discovery. This act of preservation is the ultimate triumph against the historical silencing of women. Ana’s vision of Jesus provides a deeply personal and spiritual climax, resolving her grief not with a public miracle but with an internal one, reinforcing the novel's focus on an intimate, alternative spirituality. The ending solidifies Ana’s identity as more than just the wife of a famous man; she is a writer, a leader, and a voice in her own right, whose legacy is deliberately and defiantly saved for the future.
Analysis
Sue Monk Kidd uses significant time jumps in these final chapters to telescope the remainder of Ana’s life, emphasizing the long-term impact of her choices and relationships. The structure creates a powerful framing device: the act of reading the novel becomes the act of unearthing Ana’s buried story, fulfilling Yaltha’s prophecy and Ana’s hope. This meta-narrative technique implicates the reader in the act of historical recovery.
Ana’s vision of Jesus is a key moment of literary and theological interpretation. It deliberately subverts traditional Christian resurrection narratives, presenting a deeply personal, psychological, and spiritual experience rather than a physical one. This aligns with the novel’s broader theme of Alternative Faith and Spirituality, which prioritizes inner knowing and personal connection to the divine over institutional dogma. The paradox of both Ana and the visionary Jesus wearing the same cloak suggests a merging of their beings—his spirit now lives within her, and her story is inextricably linked to his. The novel’s final line, "I am a voice," is the thematic thesis, asserting that the deepest human longing is to be known, to be heard, and to have one’s story told.
Key Quotes
“I never left.”
Jesus's words during Ana's vision offer solace and a sense of enduring connection. This moment transcends a physical resurrection, suggesting that his spirit and influence remain with her, guiding her path forward. It underscores the novel's theme of finding spiritual meaning through personal experience rather than traditional religious doctrine.
“I am Ana. I was the wife of Jesus of Nazareth. I am a voice.”
This powerful declaration encapsulates Ana's journey of self-discovery and her determination to be remembered. By asserting her name, her relationship to Jesus, and her identity as a "voice," she defies historical erasure and reclaims her narrative. It is a testament to the importance of female stories and the enduring power of individual expression.