"The Red Tent"

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Middle Tennessee briefs: 'Red Tent' Trisha's pick for Big Big Book Club

The Tennessean's Big Big Book Club tomorrow will discuss the book selected by country superstar Trisha Yearwood, The Red Tent, written by Anita Diamant.

The discussion group will meet at noon at the downtown branch of the Nashville Public Library, 615 Church St. It's free to all, and you can even take a lunch.

The Red Tent looks at what the lives of women might have been like in biblical times. The author took a real character, Dinah, who is briefly mentioned in Genesis 34, and created a fictional life for her.

''I found it fascinating,'' Yearwood wrote of the book. ''I think there are lessons we can learn from these women today. They were as independent as they could be, given their time and circumstance.''

The Big Big Book Club is a yearlong project aimed at getting people in Middle Tennessee to read, to talk about what they read, and to visit public libraries. Tennessean Columnist Gail Kerr will give those who attend a sneak preview of the September celebrity and book.

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Here is Trisha's review of the book:

Why I picked 'The Red Tent'


I have always loved to read. In school, when the teacher passed out the list of books for summer reading, all of my classmates groaned, but I smiled inside, wondering which stories I would lose myself in over the summer.

OK, I know that makes me kind of a book nerd, but I did all the other kid stuff, too. I carried that love of books into my adulthood and have made friends with a lot of books over the years.

I love to pass books that I have enjoyed to friends and family. I love all kinds of stories: true stories, mysteries, romance, you name it.

The book I have given as a gift the most is a novel by Anita Diamont called The Red Tent. I love this book because it gives a glimpse into the lives of the women of the Bible that I can't get by reading the Bible by itself.

It's historical fiction, and it gives us insight into the lives of the women of that time. I found it fascinating. It follows the lives of the four wives of Jacob: Leah, Rachel, Bilhah and Zilpah. It is told from the perspective of Leah's daughter, Dinah, who in the Bible never even speaks and all we know of her life is told in one or two sentences.

I think as a woman, this book is an inspiration and a declaration of just how important the women of that time were and how strong they were.

The red tent is the place where no men are allowed. It's the place where the births take place, and where a lot of life's lessons are learned. I can't imagine how it would be to be one of four wives, much less how to learn to get along with each other and actually help and support each other, yet that's what these four sisters did. Their strength and ability to compromise helped Jacob be the man he was.

For me, it was a wonderful experience to journey back in time to a place that I know so little about. To read about what these women went through, the painful losses they endured, and how they handled themselves with grace and grew stronger in the process. I think there are lessons we can learn from these women today.

They were as independent as they could be given their time and circumstance. They took the situations they were in and did what needed to be done without complaint. Those women are my heroes, like the women of the red tent.

Books that move me like this one always cause me to look at my own life and re-evaluate it. The Red Tent made me a little more humble and a lot more appreciative of the life I get to lead.



~Ann~

[Carol Ann]

Thanks for posting Trisha's review of the book Ann. I think the thing that strikes me about Trisha when I hear her speak or read something she's said, is just how intelligent she is. She also does not take for granted what she has in her life and she learns from her experiences and mistakes. I think woman can learn a lot from her and she's one of my heroes because her success and fame have not changed her and she doesn't try to pretend she's something she's not. What an inspiration SHE is to all women.

Carol Ann