The Red Tent, Tenth Anniversary Edition: A Novel

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The Red Tent, Tenth Anniversary Edition: A Novel

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A New York Times Bestseller

A decade after the publication of this hugely popular international bestseller, Picador releases the tenth anniversary edition of The Red Tent.

Her name is Dinah. In the Bible, her life is only hinted at in a brief and violent detour within the more familiar chapters of the Book of Genesis that tell of her father, Jacob, and his twelve sons.

Told in Dinah's voice, Anita Diamant imagines the traditions and turmoils of ancient womanhood--the world of the red tent. It begins with the story of the mothers--Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah--the four wives of Jacob. They love Dinah and give her gifts that sustain her through childhood, a calling to midwifery, and a new home in a foreign land. Dinah's story reaches out from a remarkable period of early history and creates an intimate connection with the past.

Deeply affecting, The Red Tent combines rich storytelling with a valuable achievement in modern fiction: a new view of biblical women's lives.

Amazon.com:

The red tent is the place where women gathered during their cycles of birthing, menses, and even illness. Like the conversations and mysteries held within this feminine tent, this sweeping piece of fiction offers an insider's look at the daily life of a biblical sorority of mothers and wives and their one and only daughter, Dinah. Told in the voice of Jacob's daughter Dinah (who only received a glimpse of recognition in the Book of Genesis), we are privy to the fascinating feminine characters who bled within the red tent. In a confiding and poetic voice, Dinah whispers stories of her four mothers, Rachel, Leah, Zilpah, and Bilhah--all wives to Jacob, and each one embodying unique feminine traits. As she reveals these sensual and emotionally charged stories we learn of birthing miracles, slaves, artisans, household gods, and sisterhood secrets. Eventually Dinah delves into her own saga of betrayals, grief, and a call to midwifery.

"Like any sisters who live together and share a husband, my mother and aunties spun a sticky web of loyalties and grudges," Anita Diamant writes in the voice of Dinah. "They traded secrets like bracelets, and these were handed down to me the only surviving girl. They told me things I was too young to hear. They held my face between their hands and made me swear to remember." Remembering women's earthy stories and passionate history is indeed the theme of this magnificent book. In fact, it's been said that The Red Tent is what the Bible might have been had it been written by God's daughters, instead of her sons. --Gail Hudson

Customer Reviews:

Rating:
Date: 2008-07-06
Great read!
Great read...keep in mind that it's just a historical fiction novel, just Anita Diamant's attempt to fill in the blanks with a possible story, but in no way a claim to truth. Very entertaining, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Rating:
Date: 2008-06-28
Interesting perspective on an age old story
I really enjoyed this story and was fascinated by "a different way to look at it" or a different perspective on an age old story. I wanted the relationship between Joseph and Dinah to be different at the end...I think I would have enjoyed the book more, had that been the case. I was a little disheartened by his (Joseph's) portrayal in the later part of this book, and I had some difficulty in believing Dinah's anger toward him at the end. After all, he too had been treated badly by the Brothers. Anyway, all in all, it was a very enjoyable story. The audio version is narrated very well.

Rating:
Date: 2008-06-02
The Red Tent
I first read this book about 5 years ago. Have been captivated by it ever since. So captivated by it that I sort of read it like I do my Bible. I'll pick it up and begin to read where it falls open. I'm always up to date with exactly where I start and like my children's favorite books, there are sections that I almost know by heart. I try to encourage all my 'reader' friends to expose themselves to this extraordinary work. I'd love to spend an evening with this author. She has got to be one of GOD's favorite people.

Rating:
Date: 2008-05-21
The Red Tent
Delightful reading. View of the past I have never seen before, from Women's perspective, in lieu of mens. I have read the story of Jacob many times but this presents an entirely different picture. Learned a lot and I want to read more. I delighted in the fact that the men of the time saw the Red Tent as a place of woe and exclusion for the women HOWEVER the women let the men think that --keeping for themselves the fact it was a place of refuge and love and relief from the day to day drugery of tending the house, husband and children.
The reading made me proud of woman's ability to bend and survive and thrive. The same feelings of pride that was aroused by my reading of
Two Old Women, by Velma Wallis.

Rating:
Date: 2008-04-28
The story of Dinah
My neighbor, a midwife, recommended this book to me. It is amazing that the name Jacob (or Levi or Simon) is still popular. Ms. Diamant made the biblical story come to life in her novel. It is a bit more graphic than any Sunday School teacher explained, but still a good read. The sociological look at women was fascinating. If there were still Red Tents, women might be healthier and less stressed.

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