The Red Tent

Author: Anita Diamant
Stars: 3
Review by: ddlesmom
Destination: ancient Canaan, probably today's Palestine

Review: 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 the author 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.