Anita Diamant’s The Red Tent takes a section of Genesis and retells it from a different angle, the female point of view. This is definitely a woman’s book. We follow the life of Dinah, the sole daughter of Jacob, in the book of Genesis, from before her birth to after her death.

The story is enthralling and convincing. Here is the familiar tale recounted, from the moment Jacob stole his father’s blessing, to the selling of Joseph as a slave to Egypt. Yet, this time, we are hearing the voices of Leah, Rachel and, above all, Dinah.

The focus is on childbearing, women’s tasks and the way women perceive the violent acts of the Book of Genesis. The text vividly recreates the world of shepherds and caravans and all the rites women were involved in in the ancient world. We hear about Rachel sitting on the stolen household gods, and about the ‘rape’ of Dinah by an Egyptian prince. The founding of Israel is retold through a different voice.

The Red Tent is a very moving text which establishes a place for women in a Biblical world that was almost exclusively male.

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.