The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

 

Goodreads Summary: 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 four wives of Jacob. They love Dinah and give her gifts that sustain her through a hard-working 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 connection with the past. Deeply affecting, The Red Tent combines rich storytelling with a valuable achievement in modern fiction: a new view of biblical women's society.

Goodreads Rating: 4.18 stars with over 530,000 ratings

Genre Listing: Historical Fiction, Religion, Book Club, Feminism, Adult Fiction, Women's Fiction

Goodreads Challenge: 19/50

2021 Reading Challenge: #4 Read a Standalone novel (not in a series) (Find the entire challenge here)

Book Review: 

Happy Sunday, Readers! It is a long weekend here and a much-needed one at that. The Red Tent is actually a reread for me. I originally read it back in 2011, long before this blog was even an idea, but it had been on my mind a lot recently. It worked out because it ended up being on sale about the same time. So I picked it up and dived into my reread. It had been so long since I read it that I really didn't remember much. I essentially just remembered the bare bones of the story, and that boiled down to Dinah was the only daughter of Jacob and sister of Joseph. The family was in the bible, and there was a red tent where all the women stayed. I also remembered that I really enjoyed it. I quickly realized that I remembered very little of the story.

The story starts with Dinah explaining why someone likely doesn't know her story. I like it because the way it reads is like you're sitting down with a historical person over coffee as they explain their life and what made them who they were from their perspective. After Dinah introduces who she is, she tells the story of her four mothers and how they all became the wives of Jacob. At the core of the story isn't just what happened to Dinah, but a story of lessons passed on from mothers to daughters.

I'm a massive fan of historical fiction, it's one of my favorite genres to read, but I typically don't read anything related to this era. So even though this was a reread for me, it was interesting to learn about the culture and day-to-day activities of keeping a camp going. I thought that the family dynamic of Jacob's camp was interesting because it is so different than what's considered more the norm today. 

The vast majority of Dinah's teenage to adult life was so sad and filled with so much violence and loneliness, it's a wonder that she was able to find happiness in Anita Diamant's telling of her story. I was thrilled to see that the story came to a complete end and had a happy ending for someone who had a long and challenging life. I was pleased that she got to pass on her own life lessons to daughters of her heart, even if she didn't have her own daughters. In the end, once her son grew older and she was forced to leave the palace, she finally found where she belonged.

For any reader wondering about the religious aspects of this book, I thought I'd tell a bit of my perception of this. I'm not religious at all and really never have been. The vast majority of my family is either some sect of Christian or Catholic, and I guess that need for a higher power skipped over me. I'm a self-described heathen, and I think there's a little bit of truth in all religions, rather than one religion that is the ultimate truth. If I was forced to convert to a religion, I'd probably lean more towards being Pagan. I say all that to explain that I understand many people can be really put off by books if they are ultra-religious, or may even go into this expecting a lot of religion. I didn't really get that vibe from the story. It mostly just seemed like just that to me; a story. There were mentions of the different Gods that the characters followed, both Hebrew and Egyptian, and their domain. It never felt preachy or like it was the primary purpose of the story. It also takes place in B. C., so there weren't really any Christian aspects to it, as far as I know. I also admit that I'm no expert on the Bible, so how accurate this telling is to what's in the book, I'd have no idea. Like I said, I'm a heathen. 

Overall, this was an exciting story to read, and at times it was heartbreaking. It ended well and was a perfect fit for a standalone novel. The story really came full circle, and I think Dinah was really relatable, even with being from an ancient time. Like I said earlier, at its core, it's a story that focuses on knowledge passed down from mothers to daughters. I think if you like historical fiction, specifically focused on women's history, then you may enjoy this book. Just be mindful that it did occur when women were still considered property of their husbands, fathers, and brothers, so parts of it are hard to read.  I initially gave it a four-star rating on Goodreads, and I think I'll stick with that rating.