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Yes, I know you've been looking forward to a Tuckermans book review for this month, and I've been lagging because... well... because... ummm.....because... heeeeee.... ummm....  none of your business.

So anyways... onwards...

About The Book (taken from ReadingGroupGuides.com)

THE RED TENT tells the little-known Biblical story of Dinah, daughter of the patriarch Jacob and his wife, Leah. In Chapter 34 of the Book of Genesis, Dinah’s tale is a short, horrific detour in the familiar narrative of Jacob and Joseph.

Anita Diamant imaginatively tells the story from the fresh perspective of its women. In the Biblical tale Dinah is given no voice; she is the narrator of THE RED TENT, which reveals the life of ancient womanhood -- the world of the red tent.

Reader of THE RED TENT will view the Book of Genesis in a new light. This guide can help spur creative discussions of the timeless story.

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I'll start where I fell in love! (with the book of course)

First of all,  when she describes the first time they made love.. well... they had me at hello!

"Jacob was good to me. He was slow to enter me the first time, but he finished so quickly I barely had time to calm down before he fell still and heavy upon me, like a dead man, for what seemed like hours. Then his hands came to life. They wandered over my face, through my hair and then, oh , on my breasts and belly, to my legs and my sex, which he explored with the lightest touch. It was the touch of a mother tracing the inner ear of her newborn child, a feeling so sweet I smiled...."

First of all.. how true is that of how sometimes they are too fast to finish.. hahaha... but then... he made sure she was happy too. and finished her off. how sweet. ha. but really. how romantic. especially for that time where women were basically objects and that's all.

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This is what Amy had to say:

........it really takes you into their world and what it had to have been like for them as women...the only time they really get to be themselves completely is in the red tent...

NO PICTURE AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME

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Lisslo agrees and adds:

First, I agree with Norma about the beauty of the description of Isaac and Rebecca's relationship. I really liked that.

Second, I've come to care so much about the four mothers and Dinah already. I think that the experiences they have in the Red Tent are amazing... I can't imagine the kind of sisterhood women then must have had. Instead of bonding together as they did back then, we go about things as if they were normal. Women go back to work in as little as a few weeks after having a baby.

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When asked who our favorite character/sister in the book was, Daydreamer said:

I would have to choose Leah as my all time favorite because she is so strong and capable. I would love to know how to do half the things she does.

What I loved about Rachel was the fact that she totally was a spoiled brat in some ways, very self-centered and when she started learning the skills of a mid-wife, it seemed to make her a different person, one that I really respected in many ways.

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Kimberly didn't think she was going to like the book in the beginning. But once she started reading it she says:

I didn't think I was going to like the book when I first started to read it. ... Yet, I can't put it down while I'm home. I think the incredible bond between them is amazing. I've never seen these stories from this point of view before.

But she did have a question in the middle of reading:

Okay, I read this part over and over again. Why does the Grandmother banish the niece becuase her mother did something wrong with her first period? I can't even seem to figure out what the mother did wrong. Does anyone else know. This lady is beginning to make me mad. I've only read up to where she banishes the daughter of Esau. Any help?