The Red Tent

Rating:
Summary: You won't be able to put it down
Review: I first heard of this book from someone that was talking about it at work, and I remember distinctly that she said, "I don't usually like to read... but I couldn't put this book down." That was all I needed to hear. I went out and bought it right away. The book got a tremendous amount of word-of-mouth recognition and I understand why. It's a rare gem.

THE RED TENT is brilliantly based on the story of Dinah, Jacob's only daughter. I thought the author did a great job of incorporating the known story from the Bible into the telling of Dinah's story. While the Bible mentions Dinah it gives focus to Jacob's sons. Given that, I thought writing a fictional account of Dinah was just brilliant.

While the story is based on a biblical character, the book is more about the bonds of women. I loved reading about the interaction between the four main women of the story that help raise Dinah. The story goes into detail about all things pertaining to women, including childbirth, wifely duties, sexuality, and menstruation. While some may balk at the frankness of these subjects, I felt it added to a story that is uniquely feminine. I feel women from all walks of life (whether you are familiar with the Bible or not) will be able to enjoy their great work of fiction.

From the author of The Difference Now, A New Dish, and At the Coffee Shop.






Rating:
Summary: Captivating
Review: This is the first 5-star review I've ever given on Amazon. Diamant's prose is powerful and mesmerizing, hooking the reader from the very first page. Dinah takes us to a place we care about, filled with people we care about (either good or bad), and recreates such vivid sensory input that it's a disappointment to put the book down and go back to the everyday world.

Diamant takes just the right number of risks, re-casting the familiar story and characters in such a way as to make you go "Aha!" but without veering off into the realm of wildly goofy or too modern. The second act isn't as good as the first, and the climax is more of an anticlimax, but it's more than worth the read. This is the standard that most modern Biblical fiction aspires to (the one that re-started the trend), and few measure up. As fiction, it's a highly readable, believable, entertaining, heartbreaking work.