Right after Dinah is born, Rachel has her first son, Joseph. The last of Leah's children is a girl named Dinah, and she's our narrator. But don't worry: Jacob will ultimately become the father to children born of all of Laban's daughters, even Rachel. Because of all of her failed attempts at giving birth, Rachel becomes the apprentice of a midwife, and she becomes very skilled herself. But Rachel miscarries, and she miscarries many more times after that. Jacob eventually gets Leah pregnant, and then he moves on to get Rachel pregnant, too. Leah secretly loves Jacob, so she complies she marries Jacob without Laban's knowledge.

So Rachel gets cold feet and asks Leah to marry Jacob instead. and she's super excited to get married and get it on.īut Zilpah, who has a bit of a grudge against Rachel, tells her all about how sex is totally painful. Rachel isn't old enough to bleed when Jacob first arrives, but eventually she does. The red tent helps the women in this novel treat the process with care and relief, as they're all bleeding at once. All those modern luxuries women have today, like tampons and pads and all of that, didn't exist, so having your period back then was a pretty big deal. Now, we're in the Bronze Age here, folks. Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah are all daughters of Laban, and the red tent is where they have their periods and share stories. The story pretty much revolves around the women. Eventually, he becomes the overseer of the household, and he's granted Rachel's hand in marriage once she's old enough to bear children. So Jacob barges into the family and starts working for Laban, Jacob is a great guy, and he's a very skilled worker, too. The book begins with a man named Jacob coming to Laban, claiming he's his nephew, and saying that he wants to marry Laban's daughter, Rachel. She's the daughter of Leah, a daughter of Laban. And it'll help you get a handle on The Red Tent.Īnyway, The Red Tent is all about a little lady called Dinah. But hey, check out our guide to the Bible if you're into that.

Book called the red tent