The Red Tent

The Red Tent (1997) is an adult historical novel by Jewish American author Anita Diamant. It describes the life of Dinah, daughter of Jacob, who appears in the biblical Book of Genesis. While her mention in the Bible only concerns her abduction by a Canaanite man and her brothers’ act of atrocity in response, Diamant imagines a full life for Dinah—including a childhood raised by several mothers, her first marriage, and life in Egypt, where she is a mother and midwife, finds love again, and overcomes tragedy.

While some readers criticized The Red Tent for taking liberties with the Bible, more welcomed Diamant’s imaginative feat of transforming Dinah from a silent victim to a resilient woman. The novel became a New York Times bestseller, won the Book Sense Book of the Year Award for Adult Fiction in 2001, and inspired a two-part miniseries released by Lifetime in 2014. Diamant’s reclamation of a marginalized woman’s narrative spurred the growth of a subgenre of historical fiction that reimagines similar women.

This guide refers to the 1997 Picador paperback edition.

Content Warning: The Red Tent mentions domestic abuse, sexual abuse and assault (including incest), slavery, and torture. It also depicts death by childbirth, infant abandonment and death (including miscarriage and stillborn birth), suicidal ideation, and the aftermath of murder and suicide.

Plot Summary

The Red Tent is narrated in first person by Dinah, who relates how her mother and three aunts met and married Jacob. She learned these stories from the four women, all daughters of Laban, whom she considers her mothers: Leah, her hard-working birth mother; Rachel, Jacob’s favorite; Zilpah, the most spiritual of the sisters; and quiet Bilhah. Rachel first meets Jacob when he arrives at the family’s well, claiming he is a kinsman and promising to marry her. Laban, who is lazy and greedy, arranges for Jacob to work for him as a bride-price for Rachel. When she is finally old enough to marry, Rachel panics at the thought of the wedding night and begs Leah to stand in for her. Leah, who desires Jacob, agrees.

Jacob, who also desires Leah, takes her as his first wife and they enjoy their honeymoon. Rachel regrets her decision and demands to marry Jacob as well, for which Laban requires more months of labor. Leah and Rachel manage as sister wives by keeping their distance. Each month, all four sisters spend the three days of the new moon in a secluded red tent. Here, they rest while they menstruate, give birth, and enjoy reprieve from the demands of daily life.

Jacob sires many sons. Leah gives birth to Reuben, Simon, Levi, Judah, Zebulun, and twins Naphtali and Issachar. Rachel is so bereft by her miscarriages that Bilhah offers to bear a child for her. Bilhah lies with Jacob and gives birth to Dan. Zilpah also longs to have a child. She lies with Jacob as well and gives birth to another set of twins, Gad and Asher. Rachel learns midwifery from a village woman, Inna, and becomes a midwife herself. Jacob tells his sons that he was his mother Rebecca’s favorite son and outwitted his twin, Esau, to claim a blessing from their father, Isaac. Eventually, Leah gives birth to Dinah, and all the sisters celebrate having a girl who can learn their customs and stories. Rachel successfully bears a son, Joseph. Dinah and Joseph become close playmates.

With many sons in need of land, Jacob resolves to return to Canaan and negotiates with Laban to divide his flocks. Rachel steals Laban’s household gods, for which he pursues the family—until she reveals she “defiled” the idols by sitting on them during her menstruation. The family crosses the Euphrates river, and Dinah is delighted by the water. While lying near the Jabbok river, Jacob is beaten, and the caravan pauses to let him recover.

The sisters dread meeting Jacob’s twin Esau, whom they fear harbors a grudge against Jacob for his betrayal. However, Esau brings his sons and wives to meet Jacob, and they enjoy a feast. Dinah is drawn to her cousin Tabea, who is close in age. Jacob claims land for his family near Succoth; his flocks and household grow. The family is invited to visit Dinah’s grandmother Rebecca, an oracle at a grove in Mamre. The messenger who delivers the invitation is a redheaded woman named Werenro, who enchants Dinah with her songs and stories.

Dinah’s family travels to Mamre for a barley festival, and Dinah meets the oracle Rebecca, an austere woman who serves the goddess Inanna. She is horrified when Rebecca refuses to take Tabea into her service because the proper rituals were not observed when Tabea began to menstruate. Dinah stays with her grandmother for three months, but Rebecca decides she is not fit to be a priestess. At home, Dinah has her first period and is welcomed into the sisterhood of the red tent with a special ceremony.

When Dinah accompanies Rachel to a childbirth in Shechem, she meets Shalem, the king Hamor’s firstborn son. She is attracted to him, as he is to her. Shalem’s mother, the queen, Re-nefer, arranges for Dinah to return to the city and meet Shalem. The pair disappear into Shalem’s chamber and enjoy weeks of passion together. Hamor approaches Jacob with a bride-price for Dinah, but Jacob believes his family has been shamed; Simon and Levi claim Dinah has been defiled by Shalem. Jacob declares he will only approve the marriage if all the men of Shechem are circumcised. Hamor, who believes Jacob is rich and wants an alliance, agrees, and the circumcisions take place.

A few nights later, Dinah wakes up in bed to find Shalem’s throat has been cut, and she is covered in his blood. Simon and Levi send her to Jacob while they murder the men of Shechem, kidnap the women and children, and steal all the animals and goods they can carry. Dinah, filled with rage, curses her father and brothers: She claims Jacob will flee the valley, his wives will die, his flocks will dwindle, and he will believe his favorite son Joseph is torn apart by wild beasts. Alone and barefoot, Dinah walks to the gates of Shechem hoping to die, but Re-nefer finds her and takes her to Egypt, to the house of her brother-scribe Nakht-re.

In Egypt, Dinah gives birth to a son, Bar-Shalem, but Re-nefer, who claims the child, calls him Re-Mose. Re-Mose is raised as a son of the house while Dinah serves as both servant and family member. After Re-Mose is sent away to apprentice under another scribe, Dinah lives in the house garden. She assists Meryt, a midwife, and gains a reputation for her skills. One day, she accompanies Meryt to the market to buy a box to store her things. She meets Benia, a carpenter, who gifts her an ebony casket.

When Re-nefer and Nakht-re die and new owners take over the house, Dinah moves with Meryt to the house of her son and daughter-in-law, who live in a town for those working on tombs in the Valley of the Kings. Dinah and Meryt continue to work as midwives. When Benia appears one day, Dinah goes home with him to be his wife. They have no children, but are happy. Eventually, Dinah is called to help the pregnant wife of the vizier, whom she learns is her beloved brother Joseph. He was sold to enslavers by their brothers but later became the king’s scheming second in command. Re-Mose is vengeful when he learns of his father Shalem’s murder, and Joseph sends him away. Dinah is heartbroken to part from her son but finally feels free of her past.

Later, Dinah agrees to accompany Joseph to see their dying father Jacob. She sees her many brothers and learns their fates. She spends her last years in peace and upon death, is welcomed by all the women who served as her guides in life.