Dinah tells us of the world of the red tent, the place where women were sequestered during their cycles of birthing, menses, and illness of her initiations into the religious and sexual practices of her tribe of Jacob's courtship with his four wives of the mystery and wonder of caravans, farmers, shepherds, and slaves of love and death in the city of Shechem of her half-brother Joseph's rise in Egypt, and of course her marriage to Shechem and it's bloody consequences. They love Dinah and give her gifts that are to sustain her through a hard-working youth, a calling to midwifery, and a new home in a foreign land. Dinah's tale begins with the story of her mothers: Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah, the four wives of Jacob. As a Catholic of Jewish origin, I was curious about the way Ms. It's the first work of fiction by the author, an award-winning Jewish journalist. Told through Dinah's eloquent voice, this sweeping miniseries reveals the traditions and turmoil of ancient womanhood. This is a best-selling historical novel based (very loosely) on the Old Testament story of Dinah, the daughter of the patriarch Jacob. In the Bible her life is only hinted at during a brief and violent detour within the more familiar chapters about her father, Jacob, and his dozen sons in the Book of Genesis.
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