Book Review: The Red Tent

I haven't done a book review in a while so I've decided its time to get back in the swing of things. Time to start reading again! A few years ago, I took a class on Women and Religion. It was really interesting and I learned a lot. This is one of the books we had to read for the class and to this day, I absolutely love this book!

Here's the teaser plot set-up on the back of the book: 

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 are about her father, Jacob, and his dozen sons. Told in Dinah's voice, this novel reveals the traditions and turmoils of ancient womanhood--the world of the red tent. It begins with the story of her mothers--Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah--the four wives of Jacob. They love Dinah and give her gifts that sustain her through a hard-working youth, 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 Tentcombines rich storytelling with a valuable achievement in modern fiction: a new view of biblical women's society.

Plot better explained: This is a fiction novel written by Anita Diamant. She takes the characters from Genesis and gives a woman's perspective of the time. Even if it is untrue, it is so captivating. The four wives of Jacob: Leah, Rachel, Zilpah and Bilhah all have unique personalities that lend help and friendship to their only daughter Dinah! Each month when the women of the tribe experience their monthly period, they spend their time together in The Red Tent. Diamant never changes the story of the bible, she just wraps her story within that story and add details. It was interesting and I couldn't put this book down.

Opinion/Critique:  I loved this book so much I wish it were a true story. I went back and read the biblical passage and I would recommend reading the passage before reading the book. My only critique would be for the reader to be knowledgeable that this is just a story, NOT TRUE. It just opens up perspective for characters mentioned in the bible that you never hear more than a sentence about. When one's name is mentioned, it allows the reader to reflect on the importance of that life, even if the individual is only mentioned in one sentence of such an important and holy book.

I was reading reviews on Good reads and a lot of folks are pretty critical regarding this book because it does not stick solely to the biblical narrative but ventures off to create it's own story. As a Christian, that kind of what I loved about it. It is a novel and Diamant is in no way saying its true, she is just trying to captivate an audience with an entertaining story. I think she could have spent more time developing the male characters but overall I could tell she focused her story mainly on women. 

I'll have to update my good reads account and add it to the sidebar if you all are on there.. I love reading..More book reviews to come in the future! Have you read this book? If so, I'd love to hear your opinion!

That's all for now! Thanks for stoppin' by

xoxo Jen.