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 … Bilhah-the four wives of Jacob. They love Dinah and give her gifts that are to sustain her through a damaged 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, immediate connection.
Deeply affecting, The Red Tent combines rich storytelling with a valuable achievement in modern fiction: a new view of Biblical women’s society.
more
This is a beautiful retelling of the story of Dinah, Jacob’s only daughter. It has a lot of wonderful backstory about very early Biblical customs, and brings Dinah to life beautifully. I loved this book
This told an unknown tale of early Judaism and provided an entirely different point of view.
Several of my friends & I read this book almost 20 years ago and all of loved the adaptation of this biblical story. We all wanted a Red Tent to go to.
This was a wonderful book to read! I enjoyed every page!
I have read all of Anita’s works but this is my all time favorite of hers. Masterfully written and glorious in it’s story. Need to read it again.
This story brings ancient history of biblical times to life. Unexpected and very refreshing.
“The Red Tent” is an amazing book depicting the lives of women in early Biblical times. I consider it a must read for anyone interested in women’s history.
The books that comprise what is called “The Old Testament” is as much a history of the Jewish people as it is anything else. The women are often stuffed into the background, but here the story of Dinah is teased out , imaginatively and memorably.
One of my all time favorite books!
It’s a book all women should read about how women use to support each other in a good way. Not what you see today.
I love the women in this story, how they lived, how they loved, what was so important to them. It was not an easy life and they needed each other in order to survive in a tough time especially for women. A very important read, historical and entertaining. Thanks…
Very interesting
I thought it provided a good look at what it was like for women during this time in history.
I loved The RedTent.
I have the DVD and wanted to see how the book compares to the movie. I think I like the movie better but the book was very good. It gives you a completely different view of Dinah, Jacob’s only daughter.
i love this book so much that i am going to read it again.
Much more entertaining than any other biblical based novel.
after accepting the fact that the author took a relatively short story out of the biblical world and gave her imagination a free hand, realize that it is merely a book in the style of fiction about an earlier period, and enjoyment of the book becomes a straightforward task.
The beautiful descriptions of the writer awakened my imagination and poured human life into historical figures as I connected with the characters I read about in Bible and suddenly they came to life.
The plot is sweeping and fascinating.
It was an awakening of sorts to remember that life was not always like it is now.
I really enjoyed the insights into daily life in ancient Judaism. The characters are so real to me, that I cried at one point in the book.