Review: The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

Religious fiction isn't really my thing, but somehow this book piqued my interest when it came out, oh, ten years or so ago.  I put myself on the waiting list at the local library, and was so far down the list that by the time my name was called, I wasn't even interested anymore.  But I found a copy at GW, and my interest was renewed.  I finished it in three days.

The Red Tent is author Anita Diamant's depiction of the life of Dinah, the daughter of Jacob from the Bible, the father of twelve sons and of Joseph (he of the "Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat").  Jacob has four wives, and through those four wives, thirteen children -- twelve sons and a single daughter, Dinah.  As the only daughter of four mothers, Dinah is spoiled, pampered, and beloved.  Her "mothers" (who all treat her as their own) raise her in their belief system (polytheistic, unlike the monotheistic Jacob) and teach her the arts of spinning, weaving, and her specialty, midwifery.  As Dinah becomes a women, she is brought into the "red tent" -- the place where women go to birth their babies -- and finds herself overjoyed with belonging to this unique inner female circle where she instinctively feels she belongs.  But when Dinah falls in love with an Egyptian man, inducing the wrath of her older brothers, tragedy splits her life and family in two, leaving her wondering how she will ever pick up the pieces and retain anything she once possessed.

Many people are familiar with the book of Genesis, the passage known as the "Rape of Dinah".  In the story, Dinah is taken by force by Shechem, a prince of Egypt, and made to be his wife.  In an interesting twist, Diamant chooses to portray Shechem and Dinah's love as mutual and consensual, which makes the consequences therein that much more terrible.  The reader, even knowing what is going to happen, genuinely feels for Dinah.  It was also surprising to me that the Diamant chose to make the women of Jacob's tribe polytheistic, worshiping the cult of the ancient goddess Inanna, rather than worshiping the early Jewish God.  It was a surprising twist, but probably accurate if one takes into account the history of ancient religion.

All in all, the story sends a powerful message about the unbreakable bonds between mothers and daughters, and the importance of the sacred feminine.

Rating: *** and a half.