I just finished reading The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. This is the story of Dinah, the only daughter of the old testament's Jacob, who has twelve sons. Dinah has a pleasant childhood with many fond memories. She is well cared for by her mother, Leah, and her three aunts Rachel, Zilpah and Bilhah. However, once Dinah comes of age everything in her life changes. She is thrown into a world of violence, tragedy, injustice and insecurity. At times Dinah feels like giving up, but she learns to persevere. She becomes a midwife and finds satisfaction in bringing new life into the world.
Although Diamant takes liberties in expounding upon Old Testament biblical stories, the book is well written and narrated. Dinah's story is one of hope and faith in a world that at times can be so cruel.
I am also in the process of reading The World is Flat. The book is very interesting and educational. When I am finished with it I will be sure to write a review.
2 comments:
Hey Sarah,
I thought this was a beautiful and poignant book, and it really made the women of bible times come alive. The liberties you spoke of did frustrate me, though, as they painted Jacob's religion as distant, foreign, and something not embraced by the women in his life. Dinah's mother was born and raised in the same faith as Jacob, and her personal faith in Jacob's God is evident in her prayers when her children were born.
I understand that it's fiction, but one of my issues with historical fiction is that people tend to view most of it as fact (like the DaVinci Code, for example!)
I still think it's worth a read... I'm never without my two cents though. :)
This book was awesome and gave me a greater awareness of how God works in lives. The wives of Jacob did not start out being women of 'Jacob's God', the Bible even speaks of Rachel orginally taking her family's 'gods' when she left her father, Laban's house. The fact that Jacob had 2 wives and 2 concubines indicates that things were very different in those times and God worked miracles of Faith in all these peoples. Honestly, none of us truly knows or understands times past. This book awakens awareness and interest in one's Faith, and as Faith is really what one carries deep inside ourselves, who are we to say what is 'right' or 'wrong'. God Bless!
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