Book : The Red Tent - Diamant, Anita

-Titulo Original : The Red Tent

-Fabricante :

Picador

-Descripcion Original:

In this modern classic interpretation of the biblical story of Dinah, Anita Diamant imagines the traditions and turmoils of ancient womanhood--the world of The Red Tent, a New York Times bestseller and the basis of the A&E/Lifetime mini-series.Twentieth Anniversary Edition In the Bible, Dinahs life is only hinted at in a brief and violent detour within the more familiar chapters of the Book of Genesis that tell of her father, Jacob, and his twelve sons.The Red Tent begins with the story of the mothers--Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah--the four wives of Jacob. They love Dinah and give her gifts that sustain her through childhood, a calling to midwifery, and a new home in a foreign land. Dinahs story reaches out from a remarkable period of early history and creates an intimate connection with the past.Deeply affecting, The Red Tent combines rich storytelling and the valuable achievement of presenting a new view of biblical womens lives. Review “Diamant vividly conjures up the ancient world of caravans, shepherds, farmers, midwives, slaves, and artisans....Her Dinah is a compelling narrator that has timeless resonance.” Merle Rubin, The Christian Science Monitor“A full-bodied novel.” Susan Adler, Hadassah magazine About the Author Anita Diamant is the author of The Red Tent, a word-of-mouth bestseller and the Booksense Best Fiction selection. She is also the author of the novels Good Harbor, The Last Days of Dogtown and Day After Night, a collection of essays, Pitching My Tent, as well as six books about contemporary Jewish life, including The New Jewish Wedding and Choosing a Jewish Life: A Guidebook for People Converting to Judaism. Diamant grew up in Newark, New Jersey, and Denver, Colorado. She has a bachelor’s degree from Washington University in St. Louis and a master’s in English from the State University of New York at Binghamton. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. The Red Tent A Novel: Tenth Anniversary Edition By Anita Diamant Picador USA Copyright © 2007 Anita DiamantAll right reserved. ISBN: 9780312427290 Prologue We have been lost to each other for so long. My name means nothing to you. My memory is dust. This is not your fault, or mine. The chain connecting mother to daughter wasbroken and the word passed to the keeping of men, who had no way of knowing.That is why I became a footnote, my story a brief detour between the well-knownhistory of my father, Jacob, and the celebrated chronicle of Joseph, mybrother. On those rare occasions when I was remembered, it was as a victim.Near the beginning of your holy book, there is a passage that seems to say Iwas raped and continues with the bloody tale of how my honor was avenged. Its a wonder that any mother ever called a daughter Dinah again. But some did.Maybe you guessed that there was more to me than the voiceless cipher in thetext. Maybe you heard it in the music of my name: the first vowel high andclear, as when a mother calls to her child at dusk; the second sound soft, forwhispering secrets on pillows. Dee-nah. No one recalled my skill as a midwife, or the songs I sang, or the bread Ibaked for my insatiable brothers. Nothing remained except a few mangled detailsabout those weeks in Shechem. There was far more to tell. Had I been asked to speak of it, I would have begunwith the story of the generation that raised me, which is the only place tobegin. If you want to understand any woman you must first ask about her motherand then listen carefully. Stories about food show a strong connection. Wistfulsilences demonstrate unfinished business. The more a daughter knows the detailsof her mothers life-without flinching or whining-the stronger the daughter. Of course, this is more complicated for me because I had four mothers, each ofthem scolding, teaching, and cherishing something different about me, giving medifferent gifts, cursin