The Red Tent in Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge

Sep 13, 2007 Nadine in NY Jones rated it really liked it

Shelves: based-on-a-folk-tale, womens-day, fiction, interesting-women, era-early-civ

A novelistic retelling of the biblical story of Jacob and his family, from the pov of his only daughter Dinah (whom I had never heard of!) The characters really come to life and you understand their feelings. The family tree printed at the beginning of the book was helpful for keeping everyone straight; I would have liked a map of the area also. Hmmm I think I need more coffee, this review isn't going well! I probably would have enjoyed this book even more if not for some unavoidable distraction ...more

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Nov 30, 2008 stephanie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: prize-winners, 2008, historical-fiction, contemporaryfiction

quite good and engaging. i didn't cry, and i actually don't know why so many people did - i thought this was a beautiful story of a strong woman born into a time that didn't know what to do with her. the way this so clearly fits into the biblical history that we do know, the transitions from jacob's god from the canaanite gods to the egyptian gods and back again - very clever and insightful book.

i wish there was more about reuben, but that's okay. i am glad that joseph was not the joseph of and ...more

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Jul 09, 2007 Erin Black-Mitchell rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I really like this book. I didn't know the back story very well, other then what I had recently read on "blogging the bible" on Slate.com. I was expecting a lot of the story to be pretty religious based on the description of the book and the other titles the author had written, and was pleasantly surprised to find that was not the case at all. Quite a few of the main characters are midwives in this book, and as a pregnant women there were passages that made me not look forward to labor! Other th ...more

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Mar 28, 2008 Rae rated it did not like it

Shelves: historical-fiction

I couldn't get past my spiritual feelings for these real Biblical characters. The respect I feel for them made it impossible for me to finish this book. I know that many women loved this book, but I am not one of them. ...more

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