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The Red Tent - Book Review |
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Book Reviews -
Women's Fiction
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Written by DivaTribe Book Review
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 The
Red Tent,
by Anita Diamant
I had a copy of The
Red Tent a full week before I picked it up and started reading.
From the first passage I was hooked.
This is a wonderful story told in the voice of Dinah, a
much overlooked character in the bible. For the first time you
see a glimpse into her stories and the story of her mothers, the
wives of Jacob, the famed biblical father of a dozen sons. There
are parts of this book that are so explicit that I cringed but
plowed through to really get a sense of life back in this time.
The theme, and title of this book, The
Red Tent, describes the actual tent that women huddle together
during their 'moon time' - modern day known as a menstruation
cycle. The bonds between the women are explored as they share
the red tent together. The stories that are told and handed down
from generation to generation are wonderful and something that
is not done today. They had a verbal family tree and account of
their generations that I yearn for now.
In this era their stories were the only way to hand down family
lore and legend. Today we barely have enough time to talk around
the dinner table - let alone take a week out of every month with
our mothers, daughters, sisters and friends to unload all our
problems and stories.
The comradeship between the women in this story was awe-inspiring.
Although they dealt with the same envies and jealousies that we
do today they knew they needed each other in almost a spiritual
way and this bond was apparent through the book as something completely
unbreakable.
The Red Tent starts with Dinah's mothers' stories, moves on to
her own story and then finishes with the story of their travel
to Egypt and their life thereafter.
I recommend this book to anyone. There isn't a woman out there
that I think would not enjoy this story and as did I will find
it very hard to put down once you start reading.
Undoubtedly you will seek out a copy of the Bible when you're
done reading to glimpse the small story of Dinah. Diamant
opens up a world to her readers that for most is long forgotten
or barely thought of. For the duration of The
Red Tent I felt as though I lived in biblical times, shared
the red tent with my family and friends and listened intently
to my own generational stories.
Deeply affecting, The Red Tent combines rich storytelling
with a valuable achievement in modern fiction: a new view of biblical
women's society. ~ Picador USA
Copyright 2002
This review is available for reprint.
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