Rating: 
Summary: "A Woman's Story"
Review: I felt this book was about more about the relationships between women than a book about a religious figure. For me the story really revolved around the complicated, emotionally charged feelings of triumph, heartache, loss, fear, jealousy, forgiveness, bonding and love that women have for each other, whether it is close friend or especially family. I wish I had a red tent to go into each month with my sisters and mother to sort these feelings out. The men in the story are no worse or better protrayed than in other books (especially the Bible) - we probably all have known men similar to them in one way or another, but love them anyway just like these women do. If you want accuracy skip this book as it is a novel that takes license with biblical history but if you want a good hard-to-put-down read, this is it.
Rating: 
Summary: Flawed, yet still a fascinating read
Review: The Red Tent opens up a world, and that is what makes it so compelling. It personalizes and humanizes the matriarchs and patriarchs (perhaps too much for some). The details are rich, and it is unlike anything else I have read. Detracting from this though is the writing style, which in many places veers towards the cliche and the sentimental. The characters and the physical descriptions are stock as well. The voice in many places is so modern (and has overtones of 90's pop psychology) that it strains credulity. Yet I kept reading and reading and didn't want to put it down. So depsite these flaws, there is enough wonderful in it to keep you going. If you liked this, I would also recommend The Ladies Auxiliary, by Tova Mirvis, and Mazel, by Rebecca Goldstein, both of which use traditional Jewish stories and retell them, as Diament did here.
Rating: 
Summary: A novel that will fascinate you
Review: The Red Tent is a beautifully written novel showing biblical life from a womans viewpoint. Dinah is barely mentioned in the bible, yet she tells her tale with exquisite detail in this novel. It makes you think about the wisdom of women and the secrecy with which they kept that wisdom hidden for generations. The stories and situations are very believeable and you are instantly transported into this ancient world. A must read.
Rating:
Summary: A moving and touching book
Review: The Red Tent was deeply moving to me. For a long time I have wondered where women's stories are told in the Bible. Anita Diamant has told a powerful story that is many of our own stories as women. She has told it powerfully, in such a way that I felt connected to women everywhere--past and present. I want Anita Diamant to have other women come alive for us as Dinah is for me.
Rating:
Summary: A Novel with a Purpose
Review: Okay, most novels leave us with a good or even great story, but we are left pretty much unchanged. This book left me with new perspectives of the stories I have heard so many times throughout life, but more than that, it left me with a new view of our strenth, pride, perseverance and legacy as women. It is beautifully written, and is extrememly entertaining, if read not being too skeptical of what is true and what is embellished fiction (Come on--It is a Novel! ). I recommend this book to all who question our history and those who don't.
Rating: 
Summary: A disappointment
Review: Having read other excellent nonfiction works by Anita Diamant, I looked forward to this novel. Unfortunately, I found The Red Tent to be filled with cardboard characters many of whom appeared to have escaped from various romance novels. The male characters in particular were two-dimensional. It's one thing to dymythologize biblical heroes but shrinking them to cartoon size is overdoing it.
Rating:
Summary: A good book that may be too radical for some
Review: First of all, I am very disappointed that Amazon posted reviews that spoil the ending of the book. The great mystery this book purports to answer is what happened to Dinah after her rape. Did she ever find love and/or happiness, and if so how? Some of the reviews here give away those plot points, and diminished my enjoyment of the novel.Second, comparisons to "Mists of Avalon" are very apt. This is a retelling of a classic story from a woman's point of view. However, unlike "Mists" or "Firebrand" the story being retold is central to major world religions. Readers have a lot more invested in the portrayal of Biblical characters than in Arthurian Britain or ancient Troy. BE FOREWARNED. These are not the matriarchs you grew up with. They do not worship the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In the Bible, Rachel & Leah's father worshipped idols, and the women in "The Red Tent" never convert to Jacob's faith. IF THIS DISTURBS YOU, YOU MAY WANT TO SKIP THIS BOOK. I think that's where many of the negative reviews are coming from. Compare Mists of Avalon with Sword & the Stone and earlier Arthurian stories -- this is just as radical a revision. If you're not prepared for that, stay away. Frankly, I'm still a bit bothered by the concept of non-Jewish matriarchs. But the fact that I'm still mulling over my reactions a week after I finished shows how powerful the book is. The book presents a rich portrayal of the historical period. Diamant did a lot of research into daily life and paints a very vivid world. Frankly, I find Dinah a less interesting character than the matriarchs -- Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah. While Dinah is supposedly the focus, she was a minor character originally, so there's not much background. However, we already have a wealth of stories about the matriarchs, so those stories become all the more fascinating when compared to that background. [The motives behind the Leah/Rachel switch at Jacob's wedding, for example.] It's a very good book. I won't say it's a great book, because I am still disturbed by parts, but it's definitely a powerful story.
Rating:
Summary: judeo/christian
Review: I loved this book. It is a fabulous account of "realism" within the bible. I have studied many forms of religion and it all seems to point toward some form of Judaism. Anita Diamant has hit home with this novel. It is a wonderful account of Women within the religous world of Men. I hope she writes another.
Rating:
Summary: What a read!
Review: I never wanted this wonderful book to end. It brought a Bible story to life. One of the best books that I ever read in all my life. I give it ten stars!
Rating:
Summary: The Red Tent
Review: The ads proclaim: "What the Bible would be like if it werewritten by women." I'm not so sure about that. The Bible is thestory of the triumph of monotheism, and the women characters in this book are idol-worshippers. However, such details aside, this is an engrossing novel that humanizes a "minor character" from Genesis and brings vividly to life one of the Bible's most disturbing passages: the "rape" of Dinah and the bloody killing of the men of Shechem by her brothers, Jacob's sons. Most previous midrashim (commentaries on the text) present Dinah as a brazen harlot who "asked for it" and brought disgrace upon her people. Diamant has created a warm, admirable (and very modern-thinking) Dinah. In this book it is her brothers, the fathers of the tribes of Israel, who are guilty of the disgraceful act. They were, but I wish Diamant hadn't made all of them quite so cartoonish and one-dimensional. Perhaps they had one or two redeeming characteristics. After all, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are the ones Jews around the world invoke in their prayers every day. I applaud shedding light on the women, but couldn't that have been done without darkening the memories of the men? All in all, though, a lovely novel. And one that is apparently helping quite a few alienated Jewish women get in touch with their heritage.
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