Title: The Red Tent
Author: Anita Diamant
Context: The Red Tent (1997) is a historical fiction novel by Anita Diamant set in ancient Middle East. The author imagines the hardships and traditions of womanhood (the world of the red tent) in the ancient times. The author has very well attempted to highlight the world of women where the men fade into the background. It is about the women retiring while experiencing childbirth, illness or menstruation all of which take center stage, in this rich, bold and brilliantly penned novel.
Synopsis: The name of the woman is Dinah, Her names reflects in a violent and brief detour in chapters of the Book of Genesis in the Bible, which tools of Jacob her father and his twelve sons.
Anita tells the story in Dinah’s voice. It starts with the tale of four mothers named Bilhal, Zilpah, Rachel and Leah who are married to Jacob. All of them have affection for Dinah and offer her gifts etc. in a way supporting her all through her younger days, a calling to a new place to live in a foreign land as well as midwifery. This story of the author reaches out from an exceptional period of history during the ancient times, in the process creating a close connection with the past.
The novel, The Red Tent gives a completely new observation of the lives of women during the biblical times. It is a combination of valuable achievement with enriched story telling in modern day fiction.
Other works by the Author:
Novels
2001 – Good Harbor
20015 – The Last Days of Dogtown
2014 – The Boston Girl
Nonfiction
Autobiography
2003 – Pitching My Tent: On Marriage, Motherhood, Friendship and Other Leaps of Faith
Guides
2001 – The New Jewish Wedding
2005 – The New Jewish Baby Book
1989 – What to Name Your Jewish Baby
2007 – Living a Jewish Life
1996 – Bible Baby Names: Spiritual Choices from Judeo-Christian Sources
1998 – Saying Kaddish: How to Comfort the Dying, Bury the Dead and Mourn as a Jew
1998 – Choosing a Jewish Life: A Handbook for People Converting to Judaism and for Their Family and Friends
2000 – How to Raise a Jewish Child: A Practical Handbook for Family Life
2000 – How to be a Jewish Parent: A Practical Handbook for Family Life
2017 – The Jewish Wedding Now
True Events
1985 – Life and Death in the Nursery