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Red Tent

(Bestselling Backlist)

By Anita Diamant

(68)

| School & Library Binding | 9781417616466

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Book Description

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 God’s daughters instead of soContinue

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 God’s 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 Jacob’s only female offspring—his daughter, Dinah.

Author Anita Diamant, in the voice of Dinah, gives an insider’s look at the details of women’s 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—Jacob’s 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; Jacob’s 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 Joseph’s 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.

Critics

  • The Red Tent By Anita Diamant

    A mother's love, a daughter's love The Red Tent, Anita Diamant's vivid evocation of Biblical womanhood, has gained the kind of popularity that authors (and publishers) dream of. The book, narrated in the first person by Dinah, daughter of Jacob and L ... (read full critics)

    bookpage published on Mon, 13 Sep 2010

  • The Red Tent

    The Red Tent Anita Diamant Picador Paperback 322 pages September 1998 The Red Tent is a novel of biblical times (and of the customs of those times), detailing the imagined lives of Rachel and Leah, two wives of Jacob (both true biblical figures) and, ... (read full critics)

    curledup published on Tue, 7 Sep 2010

9 Reviews

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  • After being urged from my mother to read this book I decided why not give it a go! This book was out of my usual reading range but I thought it compelling in which the age this book was set. It is clear to us the reader that considerable research has gone into this book to enhance and define every s ... (continue)

    After being urged from my mother to read this book I decided why not give it a go! This book was out of my usual reading range but I thought it compelling in which the age this book was set. It is clear to us the reader that considerable research has gone into this book to enhance and define every single detail. From what the characters wear to the language and mechanism in which they speak. This book being set in the time of Jacob and Rachel transcends to us a whole new cultural meaning. I feel it opened to us the readers a whole new dimesnison at looking at life. From the celebration of the new moon to the sacredness of marriage and childbirth. A truly powerful and fasinating insight to life at this time, set in an emotional way.

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    Funky Chick said on Jan 11, 2011 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

  • The fictional tale of Dinah who is only mentioned briefly in the Old Testament. I think that Anita Diamant has written a very moving tragedy of passion and betrayl using the historical background well. It is very different from Good Harbor which I read earlier this year. Although both titles are str ... (continue)

    The fictional tale of Dinah who is only mentioned briefly in the Old Testament. I think that Anita Diamant has written a very moving tragedy of passion and betrayl using the historical background well. It is very different from Good Harbor which I read earlier this year. Although both titles are strongly based on the theme of friendships amongst women, just set in a different time and place. Personally I found Good Harbor easier to relate to because it is a contempory novel. However I did enjoy both novels very much and would recommend them to others.
    The reviews on amazon.co.uk are well worth reading, very varied opinions.

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    Lindyloumac said on Dec 4, 2009 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

  • Finally Read Melissa's book

    My cousin recommended this book to me several times before I actually bought and read it. I am very glad she kept after me to do so. The author took some liberties that stretched my sensibilities, but that stretching has stuck with me.

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    lisainindie said on Oct 23, 2008 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

  • Great fictional view of Dinah and her life. Who is to say that at least some of this is not true? They never really talked about the women in the biblical stories or movies except when bad things happened. The book is just a wonderful fictional view point.

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    Stipke said on Feb 22, 2008 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

  • The Red Tent

    I do not have enough background in either bible studies or history to be able to sort out how much of Diamant's story was research and how much was conjecture, but enough of each was brought together in the perfect proportions to create a compelling read. I had never previously heard of Dinah, daugh ... (continue)

    I do not have enough background in either bible studies or history to be able to sort out how much of Diamant's story was research and how much was conjecture, but enough of each was brought together in the perfect proportions to create a compelling read. I had never previously heard of Dinah, daughter of Jacob, but this story really brought her to life.

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    Readingrat said on Nov 26, 2007 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

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