The Red Tent...Do you have a book to recommend?

[heytootsy]

I just finished the book The Red Tent and thought it was wonderful. I just thought I would share my recommendation to whoever is interested.

Here is a description from Amazon:

Book Description
Her name is Dinah. In the Bible, her life is only hinted at in a brief and violent detour within the more familiar chapters of the Book of Genesis that are about her father, Jacob, and his dozen sons. Told in Dinah's voice, this novel reveals the traditions and turmoils of ancient womanhood—the world of the red tent. It begins with the story of her mothers—Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah—the four wives of Jacob. They love Dinah and give her gifts that sustain her through a hard-working youth, a calling to midwifery, and a new home in a foreign land. Dinah's 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 with a valuable achievement in modern fiction: a new view of biblical women's society.

[jasabo]

I actually saw that book at Borders recently. It looked interesting, but I was afraid it'd take me a year to read it. I'm lucky if I get through 10 pages of any book nowadays without falling asleep.

I read The Da Vinci Code a few months ago. It was excellent!! Also, Lamb by Christopher Moore is still one of my all-time favorites. It's about the early days of Jesus - a satire, I guess you could call it, of the first 30 years. It's really hilarious. I love Christopher Moore. Right now, I'm reading Little Children - can't remember the author, but it's basically about SAHparents and playgroups and all the dynamics involved. I just started it last night, and like it so far.

I love books....great idea for a thread!!

Lisa - mom to 9 month old twin boys (and who wishes she had more time to read!!)

[suribear]

I had heard many good things about "The Red Tent". At first I thought it wasn't "my type" of novel (I'm not so much into biblical history :)), but I read it during pregnancy and it really affected me! I recommend it to anyone who has an interest in childbirth. Nowadays I can't concentrate on any book for too long, especially descriptive writing (short stories are my thing) but I got through this very easily!

On the other end of the spectrum, there is "The Nanny Diaries" lol

Kris

[trumansmom]

I loved this book. In fact, I was shocked by how much I loved this book. What I appreciated so much about it was that it truly put history in an accessible story. As a woman, I understood what these women were going through, and it made many of the stories I grew up with make more sense.

Other books that did this, but set in very different settings and very different times were, "Cane River" by Lalita Tademy, and an older one "And Ladies of the Club" by Helen Hoover Santmyer (I think). They both affected me deeply.

Jeanne
Mom to Truman 11/29/01 and EDD 4/23/04!

[Marisa6826]

I'm reading the Red Tent now. Gotta say that it's not as fabulous as I thought it would be. I just got to Part II.

Check out the Life of Pi. Can't remember the author, but it's on the NYT Best Seller list.

It's about an Indian boy that is fascinated with all kinds of religions and simulateously becomes Christian, Muslim AND Hindu. His father is a zookeeper and they decide to move with some of their animals to Canada from Pondicherry.

On the way over, the boat they are on goes down and the boy is stuck on a lifeboat with a zebra, hyena and a tiger named Richard Parker.

It's all about how he survives.

A great book.

-m

[Lucia]

"The Red Tent" is one of my favorite books...I wish I had read it as part of a book group because there are so many things to talk about! I also loved the "Life of Pi". Another book I finished recently that touches upon many issues (parenting, religion, relationships) is "Keeping Faith". And one other recommendation would be "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver...about a missionary family in Africa....very interesting and also a good discussion book.

I love reading and it is always great to get book recommendations. There have been a couple of threads in the past few weeks about books that you might want to check out for more ideas. Have fun reading!

Lucia
mom to Noah 2/2003

[ddmarsh]

One of the best books I've read in recent months has been "Delivering Dr. Amelia" by a psychotherapist who winds up treating an OB who has recently lost a baby at delivery. It's such an interesting read because it is both about the OB's journey as well as the parallel one of the author.

[deenass]

A book similar in genre to the Red Tent is Pope Joan, which tells the story of the only woman pope (in the middle ages). It's historical fiction of sorts.

The Red Tent is MY FAVORITE book ... given that my name is Deena, it has special meaning to me. I gave copies of the book to my childbirth instructors and we read the midwives chant during one of our classes (it was an earthy crunchy kind of class!)

The most amazing part of the book is how much of it is made up! I had the pleasure of speaking with the author and hearing a talk she gave on it ... there is some historical basis but most of it came from her imagination!

It's also interesting to read the biblical passage that the book is based on (it's a few lines).

[heytootsy]

Thanks for the recommendations!

I also loved the Poisonwood Bible, and Life of Pi is my next read. I am off to Amazon to check out the other recommendations.
Thanks again.

[suribear]

How timely.. I just got this email from amazon.com. Funny considering I ordered it about a year ago!

We've noticed that customers who have purchased The Red Tent also enjoy books by Tova Mirvis. For this reason, you might like to know that Tova Mirvis's The Outside World is now available . You can order your copy at a savings of 30% by following the link below.

(edited)

Kris

[Lucia]

I am not familiar with Tova Mirvis....has anyone read her books? Where did the link go?

Lucia
mom to Noah 2/2003

[suribear]

The link was to amazon.com to order the book. YOu could search for it there.
Kris

[HGraceMom]

"And the Ladies of the Club" is one of my all-time favorites! It took me an entire summer at the lake to get through, but was definitely worth the effort. It's one of the few paperbacks I haven't donated away...

I love anything by Ann Rivers Siddons (her character development is among the best for beach-fiction, I think) and really liked re-reading the classics before DD arrived (Jane Austin, etc.)

[heytootsy]

http://tinyurl.com/2aee9

I have never heard of this book. Here is the link.