"The Red Tent"

Author: Anita Diamant
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Picador, 1998
Pages: 336
My Rating: Highly Recommend

While Diamant took some liberties with Dinah's story, life during biblical times was well-researched making The Red Tent a book I could not put down.

Synopsis (wikipedia): The Red Tent is a first-person narrative which tells the story of Dinah, daughter of Jacob and sister of Joseph, a talented midwife and proto-feminist. She is a minor character in the Bible, but Diamant  has broadened her story. The book's title refers to the tent in which women of Jacob's tribe must, according to the ancient law, take refuge while menstruating  or giving birth, and in which they find mutual support and encouragement from their mothers, sisters and aunts.

Review: This was a book club pick and and I wasn't sure I would like it. While I love historical fiction, I was always drawn to early American times. My misconception of stories set in biblical times were that they were boring with too many difficult, unfamiliar names to keep straight. The geography of the area including cities and rivers was also unfamiliar territory. Diamant was able to create a story about Dinah that I just could not put down. Not only did I love this book, I want to read more historical fiction set during biblical times.

I also read Diamant's second novel, Day After Night, but found it inferior to The Red Tent.