The Red Tent

Anita Diamant

Dinah has four mothers - one birth mother, Leah, and her half sisters Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah, all married to Jacob. She is the only daughter, with 12 brothers. They live in ancient times, nomads in the Middle East, in the land of Canaan. Dinah tells the story of her mothers after they met, then married Jacob, and of herself until her death.

The Red Tent is the mothers' and women's tent. It is the special tent they use to seclude themselves monthly and when birthing. Dinah is allowed to stay with her mothers in the Red Tent and learns their stories. She learns to spin, to weave, the keep a home, to be a hostess, to worship the gods, and to assist in birthing. Dinah learns what it means to be a woman.

If this story sounds familiar, it is because Dinah is the daughter of Jacob, or Israel, the founder of the 12 tribes of Israel. This is the biblical story from Genesis told through Dinah's perceptions.

It is a fascinating story. Diamant's descriptions of the tents, the surroundings, the people, and Dinah's life feel real. Her account of the Biblical story is skewed differently than the one recounted in the Jewish and Christian Bible. And that is where I have problems with this book. This is a powerful work for the woman's point of view. This piece of fiction is believable, yet does not square with my beliefs of the original Bible. There are parts that do not match that I can understand the perception and say "yes, it could have happened that way..." but there are other sections that I cannot accept, especially Joseph's character as an adult in Egypt.

This book is an interesting, believable read - as long as one remembers it is a piece of fiction.

Notice: Suggestive dialogue or situations