The Red Tent

By: Anita Diamant

Narrated by: Carol Bilger

Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

Deeply affecting, The Red Tent combines rich storytelling with a valuable contribution in modern fiction: a new perspective of female life in biblical society. It is a vast and stirring work described as what the Bible might have been had it been written by God's daughters instead of sons. Far beyond the traditional women-of-the-Bible sagas in both impact and vigor, The Red Tent is based upon a mention in Genesis of Jacob's only female offspring - his daughter, Dinah.

Author Anita Diamant, in the voice of Dinah, gives an insider's look at the details of women's lives in biblical times and a chronicle of their earthy stories and long-ignored histories. The red tent of the title is the place where women were sequestered during their cycles of birthing, menses, and illness. It is here that Dinah hears the whispered stories of her four mothers - Jacob's wives Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah - and tells their tales to us in remarkable and thought-provoking oratories.

Familiar passages from the Bible take on new life as Dinah fills in what the Bible has left out - the lives of women. Dinah tells us of her initiation into the religious and sexual practices of the tribe; Jacob's courtship with Rachel and Leah; the ancient world of caravans, farmers, midwives, and slaves; her ill-fated sojourn in the city of Sechem; her years in Canaan; and her half-brother Joseph's rise in Egypt.

Skillfully interweaving biblical tales with characters of her own invention, the author re-creates the life of Dinah providing an illuminating portrait of a courageous woman and the life she might have lived. A new view of the panorama of life in biblical times emerges from the female perspective, and the red tent itself becomes a symbol of womanly strength, love, and wisdom.

The Red Tent is one of those extremely rare publishing phenomenons - a little promoted, but dynamically successful book (over 250,000 copies sold) that owes its success to enthusiastic word-of-mouth endorsements. Now, for the first time, this sweeping saga, which has struck a chord with so many modern-day women, comes to life as a much-anticipated audiobook.

Don't miss Anita Diamant at the 92nd Street Y.

©1997 by Anita Diamant (P)2000 by Audio Renaissance, An Imprint of Renaissance Media, Inc.

Critic reviews

• Book Sense Book of the Year Award Winner, Adult Fiction, 2001

"The oldest story of all could never seem more original, or more true." (James Carroll, author of An American Requiem)
"Carol Bilger narrates with a warmth and melodiousness that echo the rhythm of the musical interludes that separate chapters." (AudioFile)

A lovely story

This is a wonderful book. Well written and well narrated. I laughed and cried. A great story about women, thier strength and complicated relationships. I am not one to usually like books like this but I must say I really did.

So loong

I thought I could do it. But I guess one hour walks just don't cut it.
The story was sooooo long. I kept getting lost trying to find my place - oh for chapters!
Really the writing was good and the narration quite descriptive. But not for the casual walker/reader.

Wonderful story

Even though it is fictional I loved that it was like being in the past. The way people treated others, the emotional experiences, and the drama was wonderfully written. This a a book I have read before and still enjoy it again.

Beautiful treatment of ancient women's life cycle

This book is a fictional memoir of Dinah, daughter of Jacob. I wouldn't really call it Biblical, other than it refers to people from her family and uses some of the events described in the Bible as a framework for weaving the story. Beyond that, it is simply a beautifully-told story about a woman growing up in an ancient civilization, with all the different superstitions, religions, and gender role expectations you would expect from that time period. The Red Tent is the refuge the women escape to during their menses. It symbolizes sisterhood, tradition, and rest. She tells stories about growing up with four mothers (Jacob's four wives) and about entering womanhood. She tells about her experiences as a midwife, and as a wife and mother herself. Many of her anecdotes are humorous and ring true today (eg, Having to stop what you're doing every few minutes to feed yet another hungry son, or finding subtle ways to suggest a task to your husband without coming right out and telling him to do so.) She gives vivid descriptions of her experiences, which span the spectrum of love, laughter, pain, grief, and horror. There are some parts which are heart-wrenching, and I admit I shed a few tears, but mainly it's just a touching novel focused on women's relationships with each other and their men in an ancient and rapidly-changing world.

For parents: This book discusses many mature topics in a frank and often explicit way: menstruation, masturbation, sex, rape, giving birth, circumcision, ancient womanhood rites, bestiality. A parent should probably review this book before handing it to a younger teenager. Some people also found this book to be sacrilegious. Personally, I wasn't bothered by the liberties taken by the author because it was clearly fiction, but those with strong Biblical beliefs might find it upsetting.


For the Audible recording:
One of the reasons I chose to listen to this book rather than read it was because I wasn't sure I could pronounce all the foreign names in this book. I still don't know if the narrator pronounced the names correctly, but when I looked them up in my paper copy they seemed reasonable. I would be curious to know if other listeners found the pronunciations acceptable. I found the narrator's voice quite pleasant and an appropriate fit for Dinah's.

Affirmation for sisterhood

Would you listen to The Red Tent again? Why?

I read the book when it came out, and listened to it in entirety with this audiobook for another book club. Very satisfying.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Red Tent?

Dinah finds the strength to stand up to her brothers and leave her family after they committed horrific acts.

Which character – as performed by Carol Bilger – was your favorite?

I related to Leah, the tall, strong, passionate, capable character.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No- nice to spread it out over a couple of weeks.

Engrossed

I have read or listened to many audible books and this is one of my favorites. What's wrong to giving a women's account on a small portion of the bible. All main characters are within the bible. Woman were there too. Amazing book, I so enjoyed it. Thank you Anita Diamant for writing it.

Interesting Premise

This came to me highly recommended. It is pretty well written. I just didn't enjoy the liberties taken with the actual story of Joseph. Many of the males were flat characters.

Skye approved

Rich wonderful narrative, at times even lyrical, the reader gets to see the world from the unique perspective of the red tent...master storytelling at its best.

Una poderosa historia de amor

Una hermosa y poderosa historia de amor entre mujeres, hermanos, padres y sobre todo amor propio.
lo recomiendo muchísimo!

Listen when on your period

This book always makes me feel so connected to my femininity and the women in my life. So powerful ❤️