THE BOOK FAIR
READ AND FULFILL YOUR LIFE
Anita Diamant
THE RED TENT
Author: Anita Diamant
Published: 1997
Genre: Historical Novel
Cover: Paperback
Pages: 321
Review:
Dinah relates Biblical stories from her viewpoint as a woman, describing her life, and that of her mothers. Dinah begins her story with the identity of her mothers, Leah, who gave her birth, Rachel who taught her, Zilpah who made her think, and Bilah who listened. And she adds, with a note of importance, that her mothers were also sisters, but with only two having dowries, because her grandfather, Laban, was a stingy pig.
Dinah explains her mothers’ satisfaction in the bearing of sons, but knew that daughters are a gift as well, and are even more treasured by their mothers. Daughters help with cooking and weaving, but more, daughters tell the life stories, the stories from their mothers lest the older generations of women be forgotten. It is daughters who remember their mothers, and pass those gifts to their daughters.
And so the secrets of Dinah’s mothers pour forth in the Red Tent, the private Tent for women, and only women who relate tales the Bible never told as the story of Dinah’s father through her mothers’ eyes.
An exceptional novel, this Biblical story, told from a woman’s perspective. Intelligent, descriptive, informative and beautifully written, Dinah’s fascinating story flows smoothly and melodically, describing where the desert sands, tribal tents, and ancient cities meet.
DAY AFTER NIGHT
Author: Anita Diamant
Published: 2009
Genre: Historical Novel
Cover: Paperback
Pages: 287
Review:
“Day After Night”, entails the internment and escape of Jewish prisoners from the Atlit internment camp. The camp, located near Haifa in northern Israel, became a prison for Jews who managed to survive the Holocaust and escape to Palestine. The camp was one of several built by the British in 1938, the area administered under the British Mandate after the Turkish defeat in WW1.
The book details the lives of four women, Tedi, Zorah, Shayndel, and Leonie, and their tales of survival and escape from Nazi Europe.
Tedi, blonde and beautiful, was parted from her Dutch family and sent alone to live on a farm for safety. Although a teen at the time, her parents felt it was her best chance for survival in Nazi occupied Holland.
Zorah, born in Poland, survives the death of her family and her years in Auschwitz. She shelters herself from emotion until she meets Meyer, a young soldier, who takes an interest in her.
Shayndel, a Zionist who fought in the forests with partisans, mourns the deaths of her parents and brother.
Leonie, a Parisian young woman, trapped into prostitution by a French Madame, recollects the escape from her captors.
Lotte, a German and SS guard in Ravensbruck death camp, makes her way out of Germany hiding among Jews. She sails on the boat meant for Jewish refugees and is interned in Atlit.
In a successful operation, The Palmach, a branch of the Jewish Army, frees all the Jews interned at Atlit, and integrates them throughout the country. Lotte is discovered on the night of the operation.
After the escape from Atlit, the women are housed in Bet Oren, a nearby kibbutz. Before they part for different kibbutzim, the four friends take a photograph together.
The photograph, never distributed, stays in the annals of Bet Oren which is later turned into a spa and hotel resort. Years later, an American tourist visiting Atlit, the old camp now a museum, views the photo of the four young women
THE BOSTON GIRL
Author: Anita Diamant
Published: 2014
Genre: Historical Novel
Cover: E-Book
Pages: 333
Eighty-year old, Addie Baum Metsky reveals her life story to her college-aged granddaughter, Ava. Addie relates her story beginning in grade school, the daughter of poor religious Jews from Hungary who reside in a tenement in Boston. Addie colorfully tells her story, the history of her family, their struggles in poverty, the difficulties with her mother, the marriages of her sisters, and the relationships with teachers and friends and their impact on her life. The story begins in 1915, continues through 1985 and incorporates the beginnings of the women’s liberation movement, the right to vote, issues of abortion, and the child labor movement, as well as fashion styles and social mores. The book reads quickly, is delightfully entertaining presented in a realistic, historic backdrop and hosts a cast of likable characters.