Book Review | The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

I recently finished the The Red Tent by Anita Diamant and I really enjoyed it, and since I am not usually a huge fan of Historical Fiction I figured it was worth a full review!

Full Disclosure: While I consider myself a Christian, I am NOT that familiar with the readings of the Bible. I am not an expert, and I am not pretending to be one. Also, this book is FICTION. It is based on a story in the Bible, but it is FICTION, as in NOT REAL. Carry on.

The Plot:
This book is set in Biblical times, and it follows the life of Dinah (who is briefly in the Book of Genesis) and is the daughter of Jacob and Leah. Jacob has 4 wives (who are sisters); Leah, Rachel, Zilpah and Bilhah and with those wives he has many sons and one daughter -- Dinah. As we know, that time is ruled by men, but the women have their time in the "red tent." In the discussion with author in the back of the book, I was unable to discern whether or not the "red tent" was a real thing. Basically, during the women's cycle they are to be separated from the men. They spend that time in the red tent, with the other women, resting and such. In the Bible, Dinah's story is short (according to what I have read at least) and violent as she is raped. This book tells a completely different story about Dinah. It takes us on a journey on what it was like to be a woman living in the shadows of men. Dinah's story in this book does have a violent path, but shares a different view on what you may have previously read. I know this is vague, but I really don't like spoilers so I am being that on purpose!

My Thoughts:

I don't even care if the red tent was not a real thing, the celebration of womanhood within this book is refreshing. I was so intrigued by the multiple wives and concubines and their interactions within the tent, about the midwifes and the birthing process. They do kind of depict the men as sex-crazed penis wielding crazy people, but maybe they were/are -- I don't know, I'm not a man. I read some reviews about this book after I completed it and some people did have issue with it. I felt like Diamant covered that part of the story very well, discussing the concepts of "laying with" a man, and how marriage was conducted and held in that time.

I gave this book 5 stars on Goodreads.