Red Tent Review

Red Tent

This novel is told through the eyes of Dinah, daughter of Jacob and Leah, a woman whose husband was murdered by Dinah's devious brothers. This story grabs the reader's attention by telling the personal details of Leah/Rachel/Jacob courtship and marriage. It describes a "red tent", which is a gathering place for menstruating women were they can socialize and pass that time of the month in the company of their own kind. It also becomes the birthplace, but this is not the only momentous event to occur in the "red tent." Whe

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n a girl begins to bleed for the first time, a great celebration is held in this tent. The novel details Dinah's passage from girl to woman. The Biblical women placed a high importance on fertility and the ability to bear children. The ritual, which all righteous Jewish women must perform while on top of a mountain, entails giving their first drops of blood back to the Earth. This was strange to read, but very enlightening, and just went
to further illustrate the importance on fertility. I was worried for a time, thinking that there could not possibly be a moral to this novel, but in the end there was a wonderful lesson of forgiveness and gratitude. Exceptional book!

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