The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

This is an interesting take on the story of Jacob and his wives. I was raised Catholic and have read this part of the bible many times, so to have a more in depth view (fictional of course) has been eye opening. I can see why this book was so popular when it first came out. I tend to like more thriller and series books so this one slipped by radar for quite some time. I am enjoying the read, I like how it is all through the eyes of Jacob's only daughter Dinah, who's story in the bible is very sad and brief.

I sorta knew when I started reading this that it would be very tragic and some point, but when I got to that part I was really very sad and disturbed. Crazy how barbaric things were back then in those times and what a totally different code of ethics that they lived by. The vibe of this story kinda reminds me of the book 'Like water for chocolate' that I read several years back, obviously the plots are completely different but there are the striking similarities of the tragic daughter that has to endure the utmost pain and even shame in order to get the happy ending that is extremely short lived and perhaps even more traumatizing then the journey getting there!

As I drew to the end of this story I found it to be a sad truth of how it must have really been back in those days to be a woman. Dinah lost her love, her family, and her sense of self all in a very short period of time. She moved to the far off lands of Egypt with her mother in law who never spoke of the trauma that they endured together and then after all that basically took Dinah's son as her own and raised him to be a 'Prince of Egypt'. My heart ached for her as the time passed and she lost her son entirely when he went off to school to be educated as a scribe. As the years passed she regained her trade a a midwife and eventually found love again and a home with friends. It's a really good book and I am glad to have read it.

The Help By Katheryn Stockett

So for my first review on this blog I recently just finished The Help which most people I'm sure would just rather go and see the movie then expand their mind and read the book. So as not to ruin it for those (or just me for the moment) who have not read or seen the movie I really did like the book. I thought it was a little hard to get into at first solely because of the writing style but once you get past the initial few chapters it really grabs you and I think is a very nice story about women of the south in the late 1960's during the civil rights movement. I don't think that it is a book to change the ideas of what went on, only a scratch to the surface of a huge topic. I loved the characters of the maids, Minny being my favorite. I do really think that it is a reminder of how different our country was not that long ago. Being that I am 27 and from California I truly take for granted the fact that we as a nation have come so far from where we were about 40 years ago. Truth be told I finished the book about 2 weeks ago and it is late and I am tired so forgive this crappy review, I promise they will get better.