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The Red Tent
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9781864486797
Edition: 1st Picador USA Pbk. Ed
ISBN: 0312195516
Label: Picador
Manufacturer: Picador
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 336
Publication Date: September 15, 1998
Publisher: Picador
Studio: Picador
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Editorial Review:
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
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 are about her father, Jacob, and his dozen sons. Told in Dinah's voice, this novel reveals the traditions and turmoils of ancient womanhood—the world of the red tent. It begins with the story of her mothers—Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah—the four wives of Jacob. They love Dinah and give her gifts that sustain her through a hard-working youth, 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 society.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - great condition. quick delivery.
The book was in excellent condition. Looked brand new. Delivery was quick. I was exremely pleased.
Rating:  - A real mess
Tedious and ponderous. Very poorly written. Simplistic plot with no development of characters. The story was not well integrated into the historical time period, and in fact, seemed mostly unconnected to it. The characters were presented within a 21st century pychological context. It simply is not possible to understand the story or characters unless it was placed in the correct cultural context. Putting 21st century charaters in skins among livestock does not make them even remotely historically ... Read More
Rating: - One of the best books I've ever read.
This is a beautifully written novel, and it does an amazing job of transporting the reader back in time to a completely foreign culture, time, place, and way of life. The characters are all incredibly rich and detailed (yes, even the male characters, I think they were all as intricate as the female ones), and the story is deeply moving.
I was always disappointed whenever I would read the Bible and find that the stories mostly focused on the men; while the women would be off to the side, completely ... Read More
Rating: - 777 stars...all those 'negative' reviews mean something positive!
it's about time that orthodoxy in all its forms crumbles.
here is part of the crumbling of the weak mortar.
love it.
the overly patriarchic impulse needs it's own tent to cower in.
Rating: - Interesting, literary, complex
This is a fantastic imagining of the lives of women during the time period of the Book of Genesis.
It demonstrates how women can carve out a slice of power in a patriarchal society-- even though their roles were strictly defined by convention, that convention also allowed for them to play an important, if secondary role.
No one who reads this would think that it's ok for women to be subjugated in the manner that the book portrays, but it is an inspiration to see how the characters ... Read More
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