The Red Tent: A Novel
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- ISBN13: 9780312427290
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
A New York Times Bestseller
A decade after the publication of this hugely well loved 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 very ancient womanhood–the world of the red tent. It starts with the tale of the mothers–Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah–the four wives of Jacob. They like Dinah and give her gifts that sustain her through childhood, a calling to midwifery, and a new home in a foreign land. Dinah’s tale reaches out from a remarkable period of early history and makes an intimate tie with the past.
Deeply distressing, The Red Tent combines rich storytelling with a valuable achievement in modern fiction: a new view of biblical women’s lives.
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 tales 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 tales 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 spouse, 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 extant 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 tales 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, as a replacement for of her sons. –Gail Hudson
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wife questioned me to read. a excellent girls book. If you like girl movies this book is for you.
Reader’s Rating: 3 / 5
The ONLY reason I read this is because a post-menopausal lady I worked with at the time said, “Hey this book is fantastic you’ll like it! You have to read it and tell me what you reflect – my book club is reading it! I got it at Costco!” So about four chapters into it I thought, “wait this is really depressing and I don’t want to even end reading this when I can read my Bridget Jones talk about Vodka and Pride and Prejudice.” But I already told her I would end reading it and she was “expecting feedback”. whatever. Last time I ever made that mistake.
Can we all say “depressing novel worse than Clan of the Cave Bear”? I thought Clan was depressing because Ula (or whatever her name was)had a really crummy cavewoman lifestyle and she was shunned by her cave people etc. etc. – but I guess things probably didn’t change TOO much by the time of Jacob’s technicolor dreamcoat. (There’s a reason that Dinah is only mentioned ONCE in the Ancient Tribute – let’s not hype her up like she’s Judith m’kay?) Not only does this book occupy a whole lotta biblical time raping and loved-ones dying left and right, but it even ends depressing. And every “time of the month”, during the “red wave”, all the women get sent to a “red tent” to nosebleed together in and bathe in. that’s about it.
If you want a really excellent novel about women growing up or whatever . . . read Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Confined Bird Sings. Way better than Red Tent! – and the heroine of Confined Bird is obviously more believeable with real life experiences we can tell to more than Dinah’s “tale”.
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
Like many of the additional reviewers, I too trashed the book out of perfect frustration with Diamant’s inaccuracy as well as her perfect disregard, even blasphemy, for the God of the Jews. Yes, I said Jews, for do they not worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Is not Diamant a Jew? I highly question her beliefs as being anything but self-conjured thoughts fitting of her own feminist agenda, having nothing to do with the actual God of the Bible and his like of the nation Israel. In The Red Tent, Diamant treats the name of God as a CURSE. Is this a sign of a right follower of God the Almighty, who was and is and is to come? My heart hurt when I read her continual disregard, criticism and blasphemy of the Creator, giving more respect to the rituals of female menstruation and idol-worship than to the mighty, yet merciful, characteristics of God our Father. Does she not know how the nation of Israel started? With a covenant, a promise, from the Almighty God to an undeserving, sinful people, that he would protect them and make them a fantastic nation. And God has kept his covenant with Israel, even when they so regularly turned from him and worshipped additional gods. He brought them out of Egypt to the promised land. And He promises to come again to rescue his people and triumph once and for all over the nations of the world. To this God, the God of the Jews, Ms. Diamant offers her work of condescension and blasphemy. In stereotypical feminist fashion, she attributes one-dimensional patriarchal chauvinism to Jacob and his sons. What is much worse, she goes so far as to attribute the same worldly characteristics of Jacob to the Almighty God, Who is not human, nor was He made from human hands (as were the idols she glorifies in her book). If I wrote such powerfully blasphemous words, I would dread the fantastic judgment of the Creator who demands glory and abhors man’s prideful scenery. But as a replacement for, may the God of heaven show her as much mercy as He has shown the nation of Israel, and me. And may Ms. Diamant come to truly know the forgiveness, grace, and like of the King of kings and Lord of lords.
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
While this book is perfectly written and presents a unique persona-point-of-view, it does not fit into the category of Christian Fiction by definition. Most Christian fiction presents a person in situations that lead him into a more intimate relationship of God and Christ. While this book describes appealing facts about cultural practices of societies in Biblical times, it does not do as I described above. It also momentously deviates from the Biblical descriptions of Jacob and his family tree. Rebecca was not a pagan prophetess and Joseph was not a petty man full of himself and his power while a vizier of Egypt. I don’t judge this book should be listed under the category of Christian fiction. It is misleading.
Reader’s Rating: 2 / 5
It went on and on until I could not take much more and stopped at page 136, lord knows I tried to get through it. It was so dull and the writing style was dull dull dull.
It was so confusing, who is who and who is having sex with who and I was at the point that I was so really bored and confused by this book I had to return it to the library before I even dared try to continue.
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5