Rating: 
Summary: Midrash at its best!
Review: I was hooked after just the first paragraph. Dinah's story is so easily overlooked in the Genesis account, but Diamant breathes new life into it with her vivid characterization and descriptive style. Many conservative Christian readers have been upset by the sideways steps this book sometimes takes from the scriptural account. I don't share these concerns -- this is a work of fiction, and doesn't suppose to be a true story. Rather than being a fault of this book, I see those inaccurate moments and creative storyline as a strength. I actually wanted to read scripture more after reading The Red Tent, and my curiosity for understanding the subtext of biblical passages was greatly increased. Having travelled to Israel myself, her story reacquainted me with the sights, smells, and sounds of that trip. But beyond the vivaciousness of her storytelling was the story itself. And, oh, what a story. I so enjoyed listening to the author's vision of feminine life in ancient Israel. Hearing the women share their secrets, support one another during life's difficult moments, and cling together in sisterhood made me so glad to be a woman myself. Diamante has capture the essence of womanhood in this book, and I enjoyed it so much that I've passed it on to many other women (and even a few reluctant men!).
Rating: 
Summary: Torn
Review: Hmmm. Rating this book was probably one of the hardest things I've done at amazon.com, besides forking over my credit card for one of my periodic book-binges. Anyway, this book is fantastically written, bringing the Old Testament era to life with the sounds, smells, and even tastes of a culture that frankly, I haven't been too intimately familiar with but feel that I should. The language and plot flows smoothly and poetically. The book itself was amazing.
The only problem I have is with the author. I grew up in a heavily Catholic family and had 17 years of formal Catholic education. That said, I would be the first to admit that I'm not the most conservatively religious person in the world, quite the opposite, but I have read the Bible cover to cover, several times. However, I had issue with some of the "embellishments" she chose to include in this story. I completely respect the art of removing a Biblical tidbit and building fiction around it, but at points in the novel, the complete lack of respect for what many consider "forefathers" and important religious figures is disconcerting at minimum. Many of these add-ons are cheap and possibly only included to boost sales, as they more resemble a kinship with Danielle Steele. I would feel differently if I knew that the author had conducted alot of research and found that these things (okay I'll say it, bestiality) were common back then, but if she just picked it out of the blue, I am massively disappointed at her slip from the respect which is due religious figures from ANY religion or creed. There is a large gap between coloring these figures as human with massive human flaws and issues aside from what has been present in the OT, and painting them as base characters from the latest trashy grocery stand book. However, this issue seems to only exist in the first few chapters, so it was more like a nagging feeling than a real problem.
Another concern I had with this book is the modernity issue. Again, I couldn't find any implication or hint as to the amount of research this lady did, but nowhere between the covers or even on the website did I see any anthropological or Biblical technical references (although I could just somehow be missing it), so I would have to guess that it was minimal. With that in mind, the contemporary themes were unsettling. I felt like she was trying to make the exasperated point of "times never change" and "history repeats" and other such cliches, but perhaps at the expense of authenticity. Some of the actions and behaviours of the characters were a little too close to home. If I can say, "Hey, I've done that" in reference to someone who lived thousands of years ago, I have to be a little wary that the story hasn't been "updated". Then again, I'm not a specialist, and maybe she is. Who knows, and that's the problem. I did see evidence of a greater knowledge of the culture behind the OT, so it's not like she's making things up as she goes along, just to clarify.
So after all this complaining, why four stars? The artistry of the writing more than makes up for annoying details. I just thought I'd alert any fundamentalists or readers who are particularly sensitive about religious issues, which I can be sometimes, despite all my liberal-ness. For those with tough skin, this is a riveting story well-composed with vibrant images exploring topics and even methods of writing rarely seen.
If the subject matter interests you, I'd recommend Karen Armstrong. She writes wonderful nonfiction investigations into religion, the monotheistic ones in particular. A collaboration between her and Diamant would be unstoppable and world-altering.
Rating:
Summary: The lost world
Review: Books that recreate worlds that are largely lost to us can be hard to read. Many people find history to be a rather dull subject. But, in fact, Ms. Diamant has created not only an extremely readable tale but she has actually done it so well that I have found myself refering back to this book as if it is a history book rather than fiction. An excellent rendering of and old testament story.
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't get enough of this book.
Review: This was an amazing book. After hearing people talk about it for a while I finally decided to pick it up and read it. The start of the book was wonderful. I love how it started out with the 4 mothers and then how it got into Dinah's story. Dinah was a wonderful charactor with an intersting story. The first two parts had me hooked. The last part I found it bit hard to get into but I liked it. I love this book and hope to read more similar storys to this.
Rating:
Summary: A surprisingly wonderful tale of women!
Review: I had read everything else that the airport bookstore had to offer and so finally broke down and bought The Red Tent. What a delicious, wonderful, historical, emotional and passionate novel!! The reader is introduced to the many wives of Jacob (Book of Genesis) and their proficiencies and charms each by Dinah, Jacob's only daughter (and as the only woman in her generation - left to continue to hand down the tales, traditions, foods, etc.). The Red Tent is the place where women go to 'be women": pass their menstruations, give birth, prepare for marriage, and when they are ill. This wonderful place becomes the "women's room", the place for the younger ones to learn and the older ones to teach, and place to go if one is ill and need of comfort.
The first half of this book, filled with the sweet remembrances of the women in the red tent; their stories and their skills (midwifery, cooking, gardening, herbs, sewing) is the dearest - it is amongst these mothers that Dinah learns to become a midwife. There is something powerful and beautiful about women celebrating what they are all about. The novel changes somewhat when Dinah tells us the tale of Jacob's family's move into the land of Canaan. What happens to Dinah in this book is more satisfying that as it is suggested in the bible. While not a happy event, it is more satisfying, obviously, to believe that Dinah experienced true love. This is a wonderful novel about the value and continuity of the women in history and one I am sorry I waited so long to pick up and read.
Rating:
Summary: a must read for all women
Review: although this angle on the biblical story of Dinah is fictional, I found the details on ancient midwifery breathtaking...
I'm even more proud to be a woman after reading this book & the happy ending is worth all the pain in the first 2/3s of the book
Rating:
Summary: A Compelling, Thought-provoking Read
Review: There was some mention of feminism and the depiction of the male characters as fools. That was true, where many were concerned, including the female characters. To me, that made them real. I have to admit that I have read very little of the Bible, and probably wouldn't have read this book had a friend not recommended it to me. I'm glad that I did. Although the book started out rather slow, Diamont drew me in with the characters of Leah and Rachel, who fell in love with a man named Jacob. She did an excellent job of describing the sibling rivalry between the two women, the clash between father and son-in-law, and the horrifying event that rips the family apart.
The Red Tent is a tightly interwoven novel of female bonding, lust and jealousy, and family legacies. You don't have to have a strong knowledge of the Bible to enjoy this book. The fact that Diamont took a very brief glimpse of history and blew it up into a believable story shows how creative she is. I'd recommend this book to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Book I've Read
Review: Someone recommended that I read this book, and, from her description of it, I couldn't wait to get it and dive in. However, nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to get myself into. This is, by far, the best book that I've ever read. It gets your attention right from the beginning and doesn't let go. I honestly did not want it to end. While it's a fiction novel, I still learned more about the 12 tribes of Israel and the woman's role in society during "Bible times" than I have by just reading the Bible. The book actually made me want to dig deeper into the Bible and look for similarities.
Rating:
Summary: Anita Diamant.....I salute you!
Review: This is without a doubt one of THE BEST and most satisfying reads I have read in a long long time. I love this book for four main reasons: Whereas many authors(read women) of her generation go on and on with verbose and pretentious dialogue. Anita Diamant simply cuts to the chase and tells it like it is. She only takes 300+ pages to her story whereas most other authors would have taken a story like this and turned it into a door stopper of 1000+ pages. Ms. Diamant is the kind of woman writer I have been praying for. She writes with a forcefullness and a bluntness that I can admire without comming across as angry or self-pity. Which is unfortunetly the case with too many women authors out there. Which is one of the reasons I tend to stay far away from modern female literary authors who write fiction. Her prose is exquisite she is the kind of author I aspire to be. So many authors who write Biblical fiction do it as if they are preaching a sermon on morality. Too many of the Biblical characters are treated as holier than thou and saints. Not as flesh and blood human beings. Who have faults and foibles. I actually picked up The Red Tent as a result of Orson Scott Cards Sarah. I promptly dropped 'Sarah' after being turned off of his characterization of the Egyptians being stupid and hedonistic. While the Cananites (the Hebrews) were pure and upstanding people who could and did no wrong. This is a patronising and condescending (if not also racist) attitude. Not so with Anita Diamant. She shows all the characters warts and halos. There are good members of Jacobs family and there are good Egyptians. Diamant that there are many aspects of the human condition. Yes and even those who are in the Bible. One of the things which I found surprising and original is that the women in the story do not worship El (the God of Jacob) they still adhere to their own gods. I thought that was really original. Normally when I read a "sex scene" in a book I quickly skim past it. But Diamants love scenes are so tender. And so are the men in the novel always attentive to the needs of women (we should all be so lucky!) Diamant is one of the few women out there who can really dish out this kind of scene without it being clumsy or gratuitous. I have only one minor quibble, it is beyond me how/why she saw Joseph(my favorite biblical character) as a homosexual. In all my reading of the Bible and research into other sources I saw no evidence of this. Unless of course one wants to consider the fact that he rebuffed the advances of his bosses wife on account that it was wrong. A terrible stereotype if there ever was one. In short this was an excellent book and will definetly be added to my top ten favorites. Pick it up you won't regret it!
Rating:
Summary: A surprisingly wonderful tale of women!
Review: I had read everything else that the airport bookstore had to offer and so finally broke down and bought The Red Tent. Was I surprised! What a delicious, wonderful, historical, emotional and passionate novel!! The reader is introduced to the many wives of Jacob (Book of Genesis) and their proficiencies and charms each by Dinah, Jacob's only daughter (and as the only woman in her generation - left to continue to hand down the tales, traditions, foods, etc.). The Red Tent is the place where women go to 'be women": pass their menstruations, give birth, prepare for marriage, and when they are ill. This wonderful place becomes the "women's room", the place for the younger ones to learn and the older ones to teach, and place to go if one is ill and need of comfort.
The first half of this book, filled with the sweet remembrances of the women in the red tent; their stories and their skills (midwifery, cooking, gardening, herbs, sewing) is the dearest - it is amongst these mothers that Dinah learns to become a midwife. There is something powerful and beautiful about women celebrating what they are all about. The novel changes somewhat when Dinah tells us the tale of Jacob's family's move into the land of Canaan (to flee the oppressive nature of Laban, the father of Rachel and Leah). Near urban life, Dinah is tempted by the excitement of the city, and the new extended family (Jacob's brother Esau's family). What happens to Dinah in this book is more satisfying that as it is suggested in the bible. In this tale, she is in love with the Prince Shalem and he with her. They are to be wed, but in Shakepearan tragedy, Dinah's brothers (believing she has been raped by Shalem) fall upon the city and murder Shalem and many others. While not a happy event, it is more satisfying, obviously, to believe that Dinah experienced true love. She gives birth to a baby boy and flees with Shalem's mother to Egypt where the boy is raised. In her later years, a much-subdued Dinah eventually stumbles upon her dearest younger brother, Joseph (of technicolor coat fame), she sees her son grown, and she falls in love again. This is a wonderful novel about the value and continuity of the women in history and one I am sorry I waited so long to pick up and read.
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