“In the red tent, the truth is known. In the red tent, where days pass like a gentle stream, as the gift of Innana courses through us, cleansing the body of last month’s death, preparing the body to receive the new month’s life, women give thanks—for repose and restoration, for the knowledge that life comes from between our legs, and that life costs blood.”
This book had me crying on the train. This is the story of Dinah, and while I have no knowledge of biblical telling, I was still able to savor each and every new moon period, birth, and death. The author writes with such ease, I found myself for the first time in a while able to get lost in the prose and forget myself. I was thrusted into the world of women in the Middle Bronze Age, feeling with them the deep ritual and respect of their monthly cycles, holding my breath with them during the beautiful yet painful experience of child birth, and weeping with them at death, loss, and betrayal. I was left connected to the stories of all the women who celebrated and suffered at the hands of Mother Nature. Dinah becomes a midwife, just as one of her mothers had been, and subsequently we as readers are not shielded from any of the beauty or torment these women experienced during child birth. We also get to witness true love, connection, and pleasure to the point where I may have shed some tears. My only critique is that the beginning can be a little slower, but I still wanted to keep reading about the life of Dinah and her mothers. All I can say is girls rule boys drool: Even back then. Take my reviews with a grain of salt, however, for I am easily pleased!
