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.

Book Review: When We Believed in Mermaids by Barbara O'Neal

 

Goodreads Summary: Her sister has been dead for fifteen years when she sees her on the TV news…Josie Bianci was killed years ago on a train during a terrorist attack. Gone forever. It’s what her sister, Kit, an ER doctor in Santa Cruz, has always believed. Yet all it takes is a few heart-wrenching seconds to upend Kit’s world. Live coverage of a club fire in Auckland has captured the image of a woman stumbling through the smoke and debris. Her resemblance to Josie is unbelievable. And unmistakable. With it comes a flood of emotions—grief, loss, and anger—that Kit finally has a chance to put to rest: by finding the sister who’s been living a lie.

After arriving in New Zealand, Kit begins her journey with the memories of the past: of days spent on the beach with Josie. Of a lost teenage boy who’d become part of their family. And of a trauma that has haunted Kit and Josie their entire lives.

Now, if two sisters are to reunite, it can only be by unearthing long-buried secrets and facing a devastating truth that has kept them apart far too long. To regain their relationship, they may have to lose everything.

Goodreads Ratings: 4.19 stars with over 151,000 ratings

Genre Listing: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, Mystery, Chick Lit, Women's Fiction, Book Club

Goodreads Challenge: 14/50 

2021 Reading Challenge: #32 Read a book by an author with the same first name as one of your grandparents (find the full challenge here)

Book Review:

So one of the ideas behind the Reading Challenges is to help get people out of their reading comfort zones. This is one of those examples for me. I doubt that I would have gravitated towards When We Believed in Mermaids otherwise, but it fit the grandparent category and seemed mildly interesting. I will say I thought it was going to be more of a mystery than what it was. I'd consider this more a contemporary romance than anything. When I think of mystery, it makes me think of solving a case, whereas this was more explaining a situation that happened but leaving certain pieces out to build suspense. 

I did enjoy how the story unfolded. Each chapter gives one sister's perspective of both their current view and the past. It's done in a way that allows the story to flow without the Kit or Josie restating what the other sister already told. I feel like the "mystery" is more what happened to Josie and why she did the things she did. All of this leading up to what happened to Dylan, their sort-of adopted brother. What happened to her was sad, but at the same time, I hated her for the decisions she made. That may be intentional, and probably a bit how Kit felt. I think the way the story was told was meant to keep the reader guessing about the secrets, but honestly, I didn't find them all that surprising. 

I felt like Kit built such a wall around herself that it made her lack personality. Her story was interesting, but she wasn't. Hopefully, that makes sense. Surprisingly, I didn't mind her romance with Javier. I thought he came across as sweet. I did enjoy the casual meeting of staying in the same building while on vacation. I liked that Kit started to let loose once she got comfortable with him. 

I did enjoy the subtle psychology that When We Believed in Mermaids contained. Kit and Josie came from the exact same neglectful environment, and how they handled that neglect showed in two very different ways for most of their lives. I will say that I think some of this is Josie's experiences were a lot harder than Kit's because Josie and Dylan protected Kit from what they experienced. 

The ending was a bit cheesy, and I didn't really feel like certain parts fit with the story. Maybe it's my logical brain over-analyzing things, but I didn't really feel like Josie's husband Simon's reaction was genuine when they surprised Kit. It just didn't make sense with the last few chapters. I also thought way too long and too hard about the legal ramifications of Josie's situation, but I won't get into all of that.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. It was easy to get into and stay interested in. It's only about 345 pages, so I ended up reading most of it in one night. It was a little predictable, but not so much that it was boring. The characters were decent enough. I didn't love them, but I didn't hate them either. If I gravitated towards books like this, I'd probably have liked it more than I did. But I think if you're a contemporary romance/thriller reader, you may like it quite a bit. Some topics discussed in When We Believed in Mermaids can be sensitive subjects for some like rape, drug use, alcoholism, and child neglect to name a few. I figured I'd mention this as a trigger warning. Otherwise, if you don't have a problem reading about those subjects, it was a decent book.