Revealing forgotten history

We have been lost to each other for so long. My name means nothing to you. My memory is dust."\nThus begins Anita Diamant's "The Red Tent," the story of Dinah -- daughter of the famous Jacob, sister of the 12 tribes of Israel. Since the Book of Genesis does not contain any information about Dinah beyond her apparent rape and the subsequent revenge of her brothers, the story is mostly fictionalized, but with a ring of truth to it. Diamant does it with flair and insight as few have been able to do.\nEssentially, "The Red Tent" is a book by a woman, about women and for women. However, men are welcome to try it and learn from it. Diamant reclaims the long-forgotten story of Dinah, overshadowed by the stories of her brothers.\nNarrated in the powerful voice of Jacob's only surviving daughter, the story intertwines existing history with the product of the author's powerful imagination. Dinah tells her story simply, describing everything around her with precise thoroughness.\nShe starts by talking about her four mothers -- the four wives of Jacob -- Dinah's birth mother Leah, Rachel, Bilhah and Zilpah. This relatively short part of the novel serves as background for what is yet to come in Dinah's life. It not only includes her own childhood, but also that of her brothers. \nThe only daughter among 13 children, Dinah tells everything from a woman's perspective. Dinah becomes the women's memory, the "storage" of their stories and traditions. At a time of constant change -- from a polytheistic culture to monotheistic Judaism -- Dinah is the anchor of the old ways. \nThe second part of the book -- and the longest -- is Dinah's own story. It is the story of her love, her betrayal and her new life. To say any more would give away the plot.\nThe entire time I read the book, I ate, slept and dreamt the world of Dinah. I was Dinah. Diamant's magnificent storytelling is insightful and thought-provoking, breathing life into the long-overlooked female heroine of the Biblical era. Diamant gives voice to pain and sorrow, happiness and regret, sadness and celebration.\nIt is time to regain Dinah's identity as a living, breathing human being, not merely as the celebrated sister of Joseph. Diamant does exactly that with passion and respect for history's forgotten personage. She grips the reader and does not let go until the very last word of the book. This fast read will keep you thinking about Dinah and her side of the Biblical story for a long time after you lay down the book.\n"The Red Tent" is now available both in hardback ($23.50) and in paperback ($14.95) from St. Martin's Press.