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  • The Red Tent

  • Written by: Anita Diamant
  • Narrated by: Carol Bilger
  • Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (145 ratings)

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The Red Tent cover art

The Red Tent

Written by: Anita Diamant
Narrated by: Carol Bilger
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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. 

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

What the critics say

  • 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)

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What listeners say about The Red Tent

Average Customer Ratings
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Excellent!!!

This is a fantastic read. The author takes a story a lot of people are familiar with and tells it from the female perspective. Once I started this novel I couldn’t put it down. To Anita Diamant’s credit I really cared about the characters she created and was eager to see how their stories unfolded. I highly recommend this novel.
#Audible1

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One of the best stories I’ve ever read

This is such a beautiful book, I will recommend it to everyone I know. A powerful story from a woman’s perspective giving us insight into a history that otherwise would have been untold. It is so descriptive and captivating, remarkable.

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A Rollercoaster of Emotions

So glad Audible provided the opportunity for me to hear this book. I had a paper copy but never got to read it to the end.
This is my new favorite book! Definitely a recommended listen/read.

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Excellent Book!

Probably one of my favourite books to date. This was such a great book to read and listen too!

So powerful!

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Historical novel

Heartwarming heart wrenching
Tears flowed freely as the ending of the story became apparent… beautiful

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captivating!

Such a great read! It grabs your attention and enthralls you into an inner world.

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Heart Warming

I have read this book in paper form first for in University. Now I read it for pure pleasure and the way it makes me feel. It is like a call to home for women to remember the things that patriarchy has caused us to forget. Whenever I read this book it makes me feel more connected to being a woman of the earth and a person who longs to know their ancestors story and leave one of her own. I always have a feeling of pure joy and warmth with this book. It’s simply amazing.

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  • K
  • 2020-12-08

Disappointing!!

I had high hopes for this book. I just finished listening to “The Book of Longings” by Sue Monk Kidd and I loved it so much that I started looking for something similar. Then I came across this book. The name sounded familiar so I thought why not. And it was disappointing to say the least. It’s too slow, nothing really happens in the book other than talking about the red tent where women spend time during menstruation or after childbirth. And the whole book just talks about menstruation, childbirth and other mundane tasks that women did. Only in last few chapters something did happen which was little interesting but still not worth sitting through the whole book, just waiting for something to happen outside this “red tent”
I will be returning this book. On the positive side the narrator was good.

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Best book

I listen to this book every year and @ the end it still makes me cry, everything about it is amazing and breath-taking!

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Captivating

Such a captivating book and portrays a beautiful tale of Dena in a different way!

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