ANITA DIAMANT'S THE RED TENT
Published
in 1997, The Red Tent is based on the biblical story of Jacob and his sons, his
wives, and his only daughter, Dinah, who is the voice of the novel. Biblical Dinah first appears in Genesis 31:21. Then, in Genesis 34, Dinah is said to have
been raped while afterward, her brothers exact revenge. There’s more to it, but Dinah’s entire Biblical story
is only one small chapter of a huge, widely believed and widely circulated
book. Diamant’s novel expands on Dinah’s story,
giving voice to a nearly invisible female character and giving her an
opportunity to tell the world what really happened.
Dinah’s story is so richly realized, at times I find it hard to separate
Biblical Dinah from Novel Dinah. There
is no way, in one small paragraph, I could do this stunningly beautiful novel
true justice. Even if you are not a
Christian believer, this novel is one you should not miss. (Note: This novel was made into a two-part
miniseries of the same title, adapted by Lifetime, which premiered in December
of 2014. I have yet to see it. I may never see it. The book is too wonderful and I can’t believe
the miniseries would be any better than my own vivid imagination.)
TTFN
JMS
JMS
