Synopses & Reviews
Deeply affecting,
The Red Tent combines rich storytelling with a valuable contribution in modern fiction: a new perspective of female life in biblical society. It is a vast and stirring work described as what the Bible might have been had it been written by Gods daughters instead of sons.
Far beyond the traditional women-of-the-Bible sagas in both impact and vigor, The Red Tent is based upon a mention in Genesis of Jacobs only female offspring—his daughter, Dinah.
Author Anita Diamant, in the voice of Dinah, gives an insiders look at the details of womens lives in biblical times and a chronicle of their earthy stories and long-ignored histories. The red tent of the title is the place where women were sequestered during their cycles of birthing, menses, and illness. It is here that Dinah hears the whispered stories of her four mothers—Jacobs wives Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah—and tells their tales to us in remarkable and thought-provoking oratories. Familiar passages from the Bible take on new life as Dinah fills in what the Bible has left out—the lives of women. Dinah tells us of her initiation into the religious and sexual practices of the tribe; Jacobs courtship with Rachel and Leah; the ancient world of caravans, farmers, midwives, and slaves; her ill-fated sojourn in the city of Sechem; her years in Canaan; and her half-brother Josephs rise in Egypt.
Skillfully interweaving biblical tales with characters of her own invention, the author re-creates the life of Dinah providing an illuminating portrait of a courageous woman and the life she might have lived. A new view of the panorama of life in biblical times emerges from the female perspective, and the red tent itself becomes a symbol of womanly strength, love, and wisdom.
The Red Tent is one of those extremely rare publishing phenomenons—a little promoted, but dynamically successful book (over 250,000 copies sold) that owes its success to enthusiastic word-of-mouth endorsements. Now, for the first time, this sweeping saga, which has struck a chord with so many modern-day women, comes to life as a much-anticipated audiobook.
Review
"By giving a voice to Dinah...the novel has struck a chord with women who may have felt left out of biblical history." --
Los Angeles Times"With stirring scenery and a narrative of force and color, a readable tale marked by hortatory fulminations and voluptuous lamentations." --Kirkus Reviews
"After several nonfiction works on Judaism, Diamants fiction debut links the passions of the early Israelites to the ongoing traditions of modern Jews, while the red tent of her title (where women retreat for menstruation, childbirth and illness) becomes a resonant symbol of womanly strength, love and wisdom....Diamant succeeds admirably in depicting the lives of women in the age that engendered our civilization and our most enduring values." --Publishers Weekly
"By giving a voice to Dinah...the novel has struck a chord with women who may have felt left out of biblical history." --Los Angeles Times
"With stirring scenery and a narrative of force and color, a readable tale marked by hortatory fulminations and voluptuous lamentations." --Kirkus Reviews
"After several nonfiction works on Judaism, Diamants fiction debut links the passions of the early Israelites to the ongoing traditions of modern Jews, while the red tent of her title (where women retreat for menstruation, childbirth and illness) becomes a resonant symbol of womanly strength, love and wisdom....Diamant succeeds admirably in depicting the lives of women in the age that engendered our civilization and our most enduring values. " --Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
Now for the first time on audio, the "The Red Tent" combines rich storytelling with a new perspective of female life in biblical society. It is a vast and stirring work described as what the Bible might have been had it been written by God's daughters instead of sons, with Jacob's daughter Dinah filling in what the Bible left out -- the lives of women. Unabridged.
Synopsis
Her name is Dinah. In the Bible her life is only hinted at during a brief and violent detour within the more familiar chapters about her father, Jacob, and his dozens of sons in the Book of Genesis.
Told through Dinah's eloquent voice, this sweeping novel reveals the traditions and turmoil of ancient womanhood. Dinah's tale 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 are to sustain her through a hard-working youth, a calling to midwifery, and a new home in a foreign land.
Dinah tells us of the world of the red tent, the place where women were sequestered during their cycles of birthing, menses, and illness; of her initiations into the religious and sexual practices of her tribe; of Jacob's courtship with his four wives; of the mystery and wonder of caravans, farmers, shepherds, and slaves; of love and death in the city of Shechem; and of her half-brother Joseph's rise in Egypt.
Passionate, earthy, deeply affecting, The Red Tent combines rich storytelling with a valuable contribution to modern fiction: a vibrant new perspective of female life in the age that shaped our civilization and our values.
Synopsis
Combines rich storytelling with a valuable contribution in modern fiction: a new perspective of female life in biblical society
About the Author
Anita Diamant is an award-winning journalist and author of five books about contemporary Jewish life, including
The New Jewish Wedding and
Choosing a Jewish Life: A Guidebook for People Converting to Judaism. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and daughter.
Read by Carol Bilger.