“The Red Tent” tells Anita Diamant’s story of the daughter of Jacob, Dinah, who stole his father’s blessing from his older twin Esauin in the book of Genesis.
The New York Times best seller published in 1997, however, isn’t just a story about the Bible, it’s a historically fictional look at the history of women and the intimate relationship between mothers and daughters.
In the Bible, Dinah is briefly mentioned in 34 Genesis when she is abducted and raped by a Canaanite prince. However, Diamant believes there is more to the story. In the author’s version, Dinah and the handsome prince Shalem fall in love, but they don’t have fairy tale ending. Dinah’s brothers decide that her honor has been violated, ensuing bloodshed. In some ways, this adaptation goes down more tragically than in Genesis.
Dinah’s account reveals the story behind her mothers Leah, Rachel, Zilpah and Billah, all sisters and wives of Jacob. Who would have thought that the original sister wives came straight from the Bible?
As Dinah was the only girl out of Jacob’s 13 children, her mothers poured all their love and stories into her. They told her stories of their childhood, the day they met Jacob, their gods and the red tent; the place where women gather when they give their monthly sacrifice to mother earth.
This book is for those who enjoy a good work of biblical fiction, as well as for all women because it’s a triumphant journey that celebrates what it truly means to be a woman.