It doesn't matter at all what is fiction and what is history in this book - it is just as lovely to imagine what it would be like if such a custom as "the red tent" did exist. I have now finished the book. WOW! Diamant truely moves our emotions. The beauty of birth, the sorrows AND wonders of aging, the horror of injustice - elements that are a part of all lives. The ending of the book is so beautiful and profound. What exactly is it that we want to reap from our lives? What hurts most? To be totally forgotten, isn't that the cruelest fate? For me this was a central point of the novel! What do others think?

The "red tent" did not really prevent hatred or jealousy among women. Remember how Leah and Rachael continued to feel towards each other. They merely controled their emotions. In the red tent they slept on opposite sides of the tent. However their emtions remained. They were quick to charge at the other as conflicts arose. I would say that life itself taught the women to love each other. It was each womean's struggle through life that taught them to forgive each other. Remember that Leah gave to Dinah (via Judah) Rachael's lapis ring.

Furthermore, it was not only Dinah but also Benia who understood the significance of this act. Many readers disparage Diamant's characterizations of the men in the novel. Some say the men characters are "flat". I think this is wrong because she gives them insight and tenderness too. Men and women do see things differently. We do act differently, but that is not to say one is weaker or less capable or less worthy than the other.

I also loved how different characters were allowed to be different. From birth people are just plain different. What a bore if we were all the same!

I loved the book because it taught me a bit about biblical times and it gave me a lot to ponder. I want to read more about biblical times and customs. That is what a good book will do.

I did not finish reading this book because on a personal level I found it too disgusting. It doesn't even deserve the 1 star rating, but being as the author seemed to have done a lot of research I will give her some credit for that. To use a phrase so much in vogue right now, I found it very offensive on various levels.

To begin with, it seemed that the book centered around the menstrual period of women. Yes, I know it is a fact of life, but come on, do you have to be so uncouth? I lose a lot of respect for authors who feel that by writing about such basic human things that they are somehow being truthful and honest. Can I deal with life? Sure, but that isn't the point. When I was in Basic Training in the Army we still had the old wooden barracks with the row of toilets with no privacy between them. In high school we had swimming in PE were we swam nude. However I'm not going to write about the guy who digs in his nose and eats snot! 
 
On another level of disgust was the treatment of the men. Boy, if I wrote about women like that I would have militants threatening to burn down my house. But I guess double standards are ok if you are politically correct.

Probably the most offensive of all to me was the degrading portrayal of holy men of the Bible as being 'human' like you and me. Well, you know what? Not everybody is a pervert, just like not everybody is a murderer, or a thief. The story line was utter nonsense. Ignoring the atheist viewpoints for the moment, the holy men were different and that was what set them apart. If being a sinner like everybody else was ok, why were they chosen or singled out for blessings? Because they were cool? Attacking or poking fun at the ancient prophets of several of the world's religions is never a good thing, especially in this day and age.

I read this years ago, so I’m not comfortable giving it a review. I did enjoy the book, I know that.

Since book club is over, I'll review this book. The Red Tent is one of my favorite books. Two things I would recommend for anyone considering reading this book: 1) don’t read up on the bible story until after finishing the novel; 2) If you know the bible story well, read this novel as that, just a novel of fiction relating nothing to the bible story. I have spoilers in this review, so continue reading with caution! I didn’t give it five stars because it’s a little too controversial and I was disappointed with the ending of Rachel, Leah, Zilpah, & Bilhah’s characters, but everything else I absolutely absorbed and loved. The characters in the book were so well developed and loved. I loved the relationship between Dinah and her first husband; her relationship with her second husband was wonderful too. I loved the relationship of the women/mothers of Dinah. I enjoyed seeing their individual talents displayed and accented. The midwife chapters in this book were gripping for me and brought a heroic aspect to the women’s characters. The reintroduction of the slave known as Rebecca’s favorite slave (can’t remember her name) was so powerful for me. I loved that part. There was so much to enjoy in this book.

What of me? Did he mention me? Did he repent of what he did to me?
He said nothing of you. Dinah is forgotten in the house of Jacob.

*2018 Re-read *

Recently I watched the 2014 two part episode of this book starring Minnie Driver, Rebecca Ferguson, and Iain Glen. Like any good reader that has read a book years before a screen version(and Goodread) appears, I wanted to see how my memory has held up and if this book still has that "wow" factor that I recall.

Although I still would consider this biblical fiction one of my favorites, I have to be true to my profile criteria and re-adjust a 5 star to the 4 star it deserves. Translation: While it won't be placed in my casket, I definitely would still recommend to other readers. The female relationships are the very core of this story and Anita Diamant does a stunning job of breathing new life into the Leah/Rachel/Jacob drama in the OT book of Genesis by focusing on Jacob and Leah's daughter Dinah.

We have been lost to each other for so long. My name means nothing to you. My memory is dust. This is not your fault, or mine. The chain connecting mother to daughter was broken and the word passed to the keeping of men, who had no way of knowing. That is why I became a footnote, my story a brief detour between the well known history of my father, Jacob, and the celebrated chronicle of Joseph, my brother. On those rare occasions when I was remembered, it was as a victim. Near the beginning of your holy book, there is a passage that seems to say I was raped and continues with the bloody tale of how my honor was avenged.

But what happened to Dinah? Well, that was where I do notice(the second time) The storyline really accelerated, but still I felt satisfied with the ending. As per the series, well it kept the core, added a few dramatic moments and didn't add quite so much genealogy of Jacob's family.

This book was recommended to me from a Christian friend. I don't think it will ever cease to amaze me the stark differences in standards within the Christian faith...call me what you will, I am a bible believing, non-compromising Christ follower and this book in no way leaves one with the lessons Christ hopes to leave us with in His Word. For no reason do I need to read about some of the offensive material in this book. It paints a picture of ignorant, sex-driven men an a world of competitive women. Sadly, that is a picture of the world today- a world I refuse to be a part of and call my own. This book isn't biblical, hopeful, new, or enlightening. I give it a single star only because there isn't a lower rating. Huge disappointment...pass if you have high standards.

Now perhaps I am being a bit hypocritical here, as I do in fact realise that I am more often than not rather majorly pedantic with regard to historical fiction depicting the truth (or perhaps more to the point, showing and presenting as much of the truth, as much of historic reality as possible). But come on, considering that Anita Diamant's The Red Tent is primarily based on the Old Testament, one could and likely even should (and with my apologies to those of you who actually do consider ALL of the Bible as somehow being the absolute truth) point out that Ms. Diamant is with The Red Tent actually and also portraying a story that was even in its original Biblical manifestations rather fantastical and at best probably much more fiction than non-fiction, namely the story of Jacob, his sons and his one daughter Dinah (who is sadly hardly mentioned at all in the Old Testament stories concerning the former).

And like my GR friend Chrissie, for me as a reading woman, imagining and thinking about a custom like the concept and culture of a red tent, a special women-only place and space for Jacob's wives, concubines and daughters to celebrate their womanhood, their menstruation as a festival of the earth and yes, even in the patriarchal monotheistic household of Jacob, as a celebration of goddess, of female power, that is at least for me personally, an uplifting and strengthening reading experience. Furthermore and definitely, I absolutely have also both loved and totally appreciated how Anita Diamant's The Red Tent so vehemently and realistically portrays Jacob but especially many of his twelve sons as not in any manner perfect and shining proverbial knights in gloriously shining armour, but as often inherently brutish, abusive and nasty, viciously murderous, manifesting character traits that while these might even have been occasionally hinted at in the Biblical stories of Jacob in the Old Testament, are also obviously rather majorly usually and in my opinion deliberately and willfully pushed back to the point that women and womanhood are frustratingly ignored in much of the Old Testament, a sign of the times perhaps, but still infuriating, and made even more so by the annoying fact that because the stories of Jacob and Jacob's sons just happen to appear in the Bible, many readers unfortunately also consider them as not only above and beyond criticism and rightful condemnation, but also that any and all reimaginings of said tales, such as The Red Tent are somehow at best problematic, if not sinful and an affront to God. But really and frankly, from where I stand, much of especially the Old Testament actually and often deliberately celebrates and even at times naivily seems to justify murder, mayhem and even genocide as being both acceptable and somehow God-ordained if it is perpetrated against those whom the Israelites consider as enemies (and sorry, if that is not at best naive if not disgustingly sinful, I do not know what is).

And also, I furthermore do think that we are pretty darn fortunate to (still) live in a free generally secular country where reimagined Biblical tales such as The Red Tent are both accepted and permitted, because in a so-called theocracy, like for example, Saudi Arabia, Anita Diamant could have and likely would have been more than simply criticised for The Red Tent. And therefore let us hope and yes let us pray that this kind of religious and philosophical, democratic personal freedom remains and that so-called sacred texts will not suddenly be deemed as officially inappropriate for fiction purposes or for criticism. For I do not think I am being all that needlessly alarmist here, as there have sadly been increasingly strident calls in especially the United States and Canada from the religiously ignorant and fanatic lunatic fringe, from the Taliban like and at its most fundamentalist very dangerous Religious Right to ban, censor, to not even permit the untouchable and supposedly "God-given" words of the Bible to be used for literature, for any kind of rewritten, retold pieces of work. Four stars (and no, not yet five stars, as I have not in fact enjoyed the second part of The Red Tent quite as much as the first part, in other words, that Dinah's experiences in Egypt, while interesting and engaging, are not really as close to my heart and soul as the first part of the novel, as Anita Diamant's brilliant and oh so entrancing descriptions of Dinah's childhood experiences, although I am still going to be gladly placing The Red Tent on my favourites shelf).

Overall: I have mixed feelings on this book. Dinah is a minor character in the Bible yet the author really brings her to life in this novel. The writing is lovely but overall I just found this book a bit boring 3/5 or 6/10

Summary: The story follows Dinah, daughter of Jacob and Leah, sister of Joseph throughout her life from childhood through adulthood. Dinah is the only daughter and thus is allowed to enter the Red Tent (a tent that all women must enter during their menstrual cycles or when giving birth) early and spent time with her mothers. The beginning starts by focusing on her relationship with her mothers then follows her as she falls in love and subsequently becomes a prominent midwife.

The Good: Dinah is a good character and there is a lot of character development and depth which helped bring her to life. The author is a good writer with lots of lovely descriptions thoroughout. The writing style grabbed me and helped me remain pretty focused throughout.

The Bad: I can't really put my finger what made me just like this book. Generally boring overall was my biggest complaint.

Favorite Quotes:

“The painful things seemed like knots on a beautiful necklace, necessary for keeping the beads in place.”

“If you want to understand any woman, you must first ask about her mother and then listen carefully. ”

While the term biblical fiction may be applicable to this particular book, it feels more like biblical non-fiction. The stories of Rachel, Leah, Zilpah, Bilhah, and Dinah are more real in this narrative than they ever were in my countless Sundays spent in Hebrew class. Though this book strikes a particular cord with me being a Jewish woman, this tale of the secret lives of women can be enjoyed by anyone, regardless of religion. In this book, characters whose names have usually only been spoken in brief followed by “and so-and-so begat” come to life as three-dimensional and completely accessible people.

The real feat this book accomplishes, however, is not in its interpretation of the Old Testament stories, but rather in its ability to show that the basic, irrefutable truths of womanhood are not subject to culture or time. The ineffable qualities that make up all that is feminine are somehow described in this book, without cheapening them, and magically, without the prism of ancient history dragging them down into stereotype. Truly beautiful, a book that makes me feel connected to all womankind, and one of the few novels which I cry through, laugh through, and feel the first thrills of love through… no matter how many times I read it.

This was a beautiful story. The setting was vivid and the plot was thorough and well written. I especially liked the pagan rituals the women practiced for everything. It is amazing how the women viewed menstruation as a trait of power as opposed to how women view menstruation nowadays. It is often referred to as a curse. This story has definitely left an imprint in my mind. It was inspiring to read about how they made ovens from the clay of nearby rivers to bake homemade bread.

I am not a Bible fanatic (as a reader), I mean I don't read much bout the bible even though I have a dozen of different translation of the Bible in my dormitory. I loved to collect different bible from the smallest to the heaviest encyclopedia-like Bible, I must be a theologically insane when you saw my family's collection of rosary, bible and statues but I never finished a Bible in my entire life.

When I entered college I have this theologian professor who knows a lot about the Bible, even I ask him questions that are unnecessary he is still willing to answer like as if he-knows-everything. I must accept the fact that I am his greatest enemy but I don't hate him because he taught me a lot of interesting things about the holy scripture. Thanks to my Goodreads' friends I have the chance to read this book.

From the Genesis to the Revelation, only limited female characters were mentioned in the bible, if ever they were mentioned they only have short appearance in verses and they are the mystery. The Red Tent is the story of the lost daughter of the prophet Jacob, who suffered because of her willingness to love a wrong man.

Dinah, daughter of Jacob and Leah, a woman who had given the chance to be loved by her mother and stepmothers and taught her all they knew to become a better woman in the future. As the only daughter of Jacob's clan, she only had the chance to experience the life of a woman in a Red Tent, a place were only women can enter, a place were women bleed, a place to give birth, friendship among women and a place were every secrets of women should be kept and shared.

The books was divided into three parts, which are the early years of Dinah - which tackles the lives of her mothers, her childhood years and lastly her travel to Egypt. The book turns out to be a story of Leah, Rachel, Bilhal, Zilpah and Dinah who suffered and loved by Jacob.

Leah, the true mother of Dinah, a skillful wife who inherit the gift of being a mother to her sons and daughter. Zilpah, Leah's closest sister and a religious woman who dreamed to become a priestess of the moon and to the virgin. Rachel, a beautiful woman, a midwife and truly been loved by Jacob. Bilhal, the smallest among the sisters and the closest of Rachel who inherit her beauty and talents of Leah and a quiet shepherd.

As we all know or maybe few that Dinah was raped by an Egyptian in the bible and further that nobody knows what really happened to her. For me it wasn't a rape if she is willing to be touched by a man. She loved him and he loves her, but her brother tricked her husband's family by circumcising all the men in the household and killed them. That was a frightening event that Dinah suffered in the story even in the last will of Jacob he never mentioned Dinah but in fact she is a secret that must not speak in there family.

The book also shown a strong feminism, it aimed social rights to the woman. It is also weird that the author included gods and goddesses and practicing paganism in the book, and she is a Jew and the story are gathered from the sacred scripture of Christians. But we can't deny that in the old times people especially women were priestess of sacred image of the people, they become the prophet or a priestess who given the chance to see the future and foretell other's fortune. Warning, the book had a strong paganism or religion on it and I think if you are an obsessed Christian you may find this awful and sinful.

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Painting of Dinah, depiction of the rape. Painted in late 17th century. - Wikipedia - I may say she had the loneliest soul among women in the bible, the mass murder and the lost of her only joy. One of the most frightening and highly anticipated scene in the book, sweet, I was hooked while reading that part. I loved her as a book character, a woman with a strong heart.

Rating - The Red Tent by Anita Diamant, 4 Sweets and the tragic life of women in the bible. (Some may find this boring for me this book encourage me to read more books that are fictitiously written and gathered to the Bible. In the end she gathered her love and peace to forgive all the sins and mistakes that his father and his brother's bad deeds. Dinah's story will be always in my heart. Grabbed from K.D. of Goodreads - Filipinos and his Starbuck's receipt.)

Challenges:
Book #19 for 2011
Book #12 for Off the Shelf!

n  n

Anita Diamant - image from her site

The Red Tent offers a female perspective on the biblical tales of Jacob, father to the twelve tribes of Israel, and his family, people with some serious issues, who would be right at home on HBO, with copious quantities of blood and betrayal to hold one’s interest. Dinah was the only daughter of Jacob. It is through her eyes and her retelling of others’ tales that we see the world of that time, the social organization within the family, how they related to other cultures, the roles of men and women. I found it moving to the point of tears as the end neared.

The Red Tent of the title was a room of their own, where women could commune without having the male sorts leaving their socks and Cheetos crumbs all over the place. Diamant takes liberties with the story as told in the bible, (a rapist in the bible is a love interest here) which no doubt freaks out biblical literalists.


Rebecca Ferguson and Iain Glen as Dinah and Jacob - from the Lifetime series

Midwifery is core to the women’s experience, pointing out, ironically and tragically, the existential threat posed by pregnancy. This dovetails well with the great need of the time to attend to cycles of nature to ensure survival. The women even find themselves menstrually in synch. No coincidence that the bloodiness of birth and monthly cycles takes place in a red-colored space.

Dinah’s secrecy about her own story in the novel reflects the omission of a female perspective from the tales and history we know from the bible. Her eventual ability to share her story realizes a dream of a more equal telling.

The Red Tent offers an interesting and informative tale with engaging characters, particularly appropriate for female readers of most ages, and enlightening for us guys as well.

The book was made into a soapy two-part miniseries on Lifetime.

=============================EXTRA STUFF

Links to the author’s personal, Twitter and FB pages

A 26-page preview from Picador

A pretty interesting article on how the book, which struggled at first, found its audience en route to becoming an international best-seller, sparking a reimagining of biblical tales - Jewish Telegraphic Agency – August 1, 2017 - How ‘The Red Tent’ invented a new kind of fiction by Erika Dreifus