Reclaiming women who have been historically almost invisible has
been a busy literary occupation for 50 years at least, and women
mentioned in the bible are a rich field for imaginative
re-creation. The Book of Genesis is packed with dramatic action;
human motivation, feelings and the consequences of action figure
far more by implication than by description. The life of Dinah is a
case in point. Dinah was the only little sister to her 12 older
brothers, all sons of Jacob by four different mothers, Her own
mother was Leah, the first wife whom Jacob was tricked into
marrying, whereas Rachel, who became the second wife, was his true
beloved. In the city of Shechem, the Bible tells us, the prince of
that land 'took Dinah and lay with her' and wanted to marry her.
But for the 'defilement' of their sister, the sons of Jacob took a
terrible revenge on the prince and everyone in his city, then took
her sister back home. She is heard of no more. The Red Tent, Anita
Diamant's triumph of imaginative empathy, tells Dinah's story in
her own voice. The life of the little girl, nurtured by her
mothers', was filled by their stories and the learning of the
female rituals demanded by their many gods. These were told
repeatedly in the red tent, to which the women retreated at the
time of their monthly periods, and where their babies were born.
Midwives needed not only their equipment of knife, string, reeds
for suction and amphorae of cumin, hyssop and mint oil, but an
accumulation of skills and knowledge to ease birth agonies and
avoid the frequent deaths of both babies and thier mothers. The
author gives Dinah these skills. The two of the three parts of this
book are taken up with the women's lives in the tents of Jacob seen
through the child Dinah's eyes, and make delightful reading, rich
in detail, written in finely judged, vivid language, and finding
credible motivation for the deep puzzles of feeling that the Bible
poses. Why did Jacob not accept the prince's offer of marriage for
Dinah? How did he really feel about Leah, who bore him seven sons?
When Dinah drops out of the Biblical story, the author's task of
re-creation becomes much harder. After all, what future could there
have been for a ruined, traumatized woman like Dinah? Diamant has
envisaged another possibility. Dinah curses her family and,
pregnant with the son of the murdered prince, flees to Egypt and
lives out a troubled and deprived period until the author finds for
her an artistically satisfying and even ultimately triumphant
conclusion, when she meets the powerful Zafenat-Paneh-ah of Egypt,
who is, of course, her own brother Joseph. (Kirkus UK)
Her name is Dinah. In the Bible her fate is merely hinted at in a brief and violent detour within the verses of the Book of Genesis that deal with Jacob and his dozen sons. Told in Dinah's voice, "The Red Tent" reveals the traditions of ancient womanhood and family honour.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!