In Progress: The Red Tent (Continued)

Picador Publishers

I've nearly finished The Red Tent by Anita Diamant.  So far, I have learned of the fate of Dinah, learned the tragedy of her life and, furthermore, the fate of Shechem.  Oh, it's a hard thing to watch as Dinah's story unfolds and her life seems to unravel.

She continues along her route as storyteller, but her tale is no longer the tale of a young girl growing into her maidenhood but a woman who has suffered loss and endured unspeakable things.  You share her agony, you share her worry and her fear and her sorrow.  You see as she sees that some hope may endure, and you feel as she feels whens he turns her back upon the tribe of Jacob.

It's well and truly heart-breaking.

I still enjoy the familiar treats of Diamant's novel:  Dinah's voice, her strength and her sadness and her character, as she weaves an unfamiliar and intimate story.  It's her voice that continues to capture me, to keep me riveted even after I have had my heart broken with her.

And I've learned to enjoy the traditions of the women of her family.  I like that Dinah upholds the unbroken line of mothers.  I like that she has such a link from mother to daughter and so on and so forth into an indeterminate future.  While I cannot say I understand the traditions of the red tent, the traditions of her mother and her mother's mother, I find Dinah's connection to the past and family a reassuring thought.

Her traditions give her depth.  Her traditions give her purpose.  Her traditions give her hope.

Perhaps, that is why I've enjoyed Dinah and her story so completely.  I realize she is a fictional character, a creation woven from one small mention in another greater text, but I find that doesn't matter.  She's so real and raw, and she has a place.

Some element of Dinah does exist, she perseveres in a strange immortality of the written word.  Fictional or not, Dinah lives and breathes on the page as surely as if she had lived and breathed in the lands of her father or the banks of the Egyptian river.

I continue to love Dinah's story.  I continue to love her voice, her tale of girlhood and womanhood and, finally, motherhood.  I continue to enjoy The Red Tent with unabated ardor, and I have a feeling I will continue to do so.