Fascinating, but at the same time tedious in parts

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	• The Red Tent: A Novel Anita Diamant Picador, 2007 - 336 pages average customer review:based on 1419 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Felt like the author was THERE.

In writing The Red Tent, Diamant seems to have actually lived the history of which she writes. Very well considered, historically accurate, thoughtful, interesting, and a great story (of course). Really gives food for thought.

Fascinating, but at the same time tedious in parts

About two thirds of the way through the book, I would have given it a mere two stars. I felt that the narrative was unfolding slowly, and too much time was spent providing minute details about the everyday lives of these characters. I also found descriptions to be repetitive. Overall, it really was pretty yawn-inducing, up until the point when Dinah starts menstruating. I like to read books in one sitting, or depending on the length, in several concentrated blocks. With this one, however, it took me a full two weeks to finish the first two parts of the book. Not a good sign. But I hate abandoning books, so I pressed on.

So why the 4 stars in the end? Because I found myself moved despite the slow start. It made me feel connected to all the women who have come before me, who faced unimaginable struggles and intense pain and suffering to bring life into the world. On the last pages of the book, there is a line that says, "We are all born of the same mother.". I wasn't particularly interested in this sort of sentiment when I started the book, but by the end of it, I understood it completely.

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The Red Tent Review

This book had me hooked and I could hardly put it down. It's fair enough to say that getting started can be a challenge with all the unfamiliar biblical names. Get past the introduction of characters and you're full steam ahead. Anita Diamant takes a biblical story, then tells it from the viewpoint of the women. Their secrets, their stories, how they lived, what they did for each other just to survive and the bond they all formed. I related very well to all the characters which jumped out from the page and greeted me. A well written book I almost wish she would write more about other biblica women.

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Like A Wrinkle In Time

I enjoyed reading this book immensely. I approached it as I did "A Wrinkle In Time" in that though it was historically based, the conversations and personality traits of the characters were not necessarily factual..however this in no way took away my interest in what was being said nor did it remove me from feeling I was a part of the experiences Dinah had. This book is a gift and I think Ms. Diamant for it.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

A New York Times Bestseller

A decade after the publication of this hugely popular international bestseller, Picador releases the tenth anniversary edition of The Red Tent.

Her name is Dinah. In the Bible, her life is only hinted at in a brief and violent detour within the more familiar chapters of the Book of Genesis that tell of her father, Jacob, and his twelve sons.

Told in Dinah's voice, Anita Diamant imagines the traditions and turmoils of ancient womanhood--the world of the red tent. It begins with the story of the mothers--Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah--the four wives of Jacob. They love Dinah and give her gifts that sustain her through childhood, a calling to midwifery, and a new home in a foreign land. Dinah's story reaches out from a remarkable period of early history and creates an intimate connection with the past.

Deeply affecting, The Red Tent combines rich storytelling with a valuable achievement in modern fiction: a new view of biblical women's lives.

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