She is horrified and grief-stricken by her brothers' murderous rampage. In The Red Tent, Dinah genuinely loves the prince and willingly becomes his bride. The Shechemites agree, and shortly after they go under the knife, while incapacitated by pain, they are murdered by Dinah's brothers and their male servants, who then return with Dinah.

Displeased at how the prince treated their sister, her brothers Simeon (spelled 'Simon' in the book) and Levi treacherously tell the Shechemites that all will be forgiven if the prince and his men undergo the Jewish rite of circumcision ( brit milah) so as to unite the people of Hamor, king of Shechem, with the tribe of Jacob. He also offers a bride price fit for royalty. A number of other characters not seen in the biblical account appear here, including Laban's second wife Ruti and her feckless sons.Īccording to the Bible's account in Genesis 34, Dinah was 'defiled' by a prince of Shechem, although he is described as being genuinely in love with Dinah. Leah is depicted as capable but testy, Rachel as something of a belle, but kind and creative, Zilpah as eccentric and spiritual, and Bilhah as the gentle and quiet one of the quartet.ĭinah remembers sitting in the red tent with her mother and aunts, gossiping about local events and taking care of domestic duties between visits to Jacob, the family's patriarch. The book's title refers to the tent in which women of Jacob's tribe must, according to the ancient law, take refuge while menstruating or giving birth, and in which they find mutual support and encouragement from their mothers, sisters and aunts.ĭinah opens the story by recounting for readers the union of her mother Leah and father Jacob, as well as the expansion of the family to include Leah's sister Rachel, and the handmaids Zilpah and Bilhah. She is a minor character in the Bible, but the author has broadened her story. It is a first-person narrative that tells the story of Dinah, daughter of Jacob and Leah, sister of Joseph. The Red Tent is a historical novel by Anita Diamant, published in 1997 by Wyatt Books for St.

The red tent author