If you are not completely up on your characters from the Bible, that’s okay – you can still enjoy Anita Diamant’s The Red Tent. The novel follows the tribe of Jacob, son of Isaac – you know, the one God asked Abram to sacrifice, staying his hand at the last moment when Abram proved he would kill his own beloved son if the Lord asked him to.
But the story is really that of the women, whose lives are scantly detailed in the Bible. Jacob’s four wives – Leah, Rachel, Zilpah and Bilhah – are sisters who become the wives of their cousin Jacob. The sisters’ father, Laban, is a lazy head of household, content to allow Jacob to take over farming and herding of his land. Jacob builds up riches for his father-in-law like a slave as his wives give birth to many sons and, eventually one daughter – Dinah.
It is Dinah whose story this becomes – only daughter, privy to the secrets and stories of her mother and aunts. As the only female descendent, she inherits the stories, and it is through Dinah’s eyes that the joys and tragedies of the tribe of Jacob unfold.
Diamant is a master not only of detail – bringing the caravans and tent life into sharp focus – but also of dialogue, which flows languidly from the tongues of her characters. I must admit that this novel pulled me quickly along its pages. I read it as if in a semi-dream state. Yes, it was that engrossing.
This novel will appeal to a wide readership and deserves all the praise it earned when it was published.
321 pages
