Plot Synopsis

Based on the novel by Anita Diamant. In the time of the Old Testament, Dinah, the narrator, explains that she is reciting the memories of her life and her mothers' lives -- Leah, Rachel, Zilpah and Bilhah, the four wives of the shepherd, Jacob, beginning with her happy childhood spent inside the red tent, where the women gather and share the traditions and turmoil of womanhood. After many years Jacob decides to return with his family to the land of his own people, but after a few years he moves the family, again, to just outside the city of Shechem. Dinah begins traveling with Rachel as a midwife's apprentice and one day is called into Shechem to deliver the son of one of the king's wives. There, she meets Shalem, the prince, and falls instantly in love. They end up in bed together, and Shalem calls her his wife. This angers Jacob, and two of her brothers plot and kill all the men in their sleep and carry Dinah back home. She curses her father and brothers and leaves their camp forever. She then flees to Egypt with her mother-in-law, the Queen. In Egypt, Dinah gives birth to a son, Re-mose, who, against Dinah's will, is brought up as the Queen's son. She is treated like a slave and only lives for the brief moments she can see her son. She becomes good friends with the midwife Meryt and begins to practice midwifery again. One day at the market, she meets Benia, a master carpenter, and feels an instant attraction to him. They soon marry, and she becomes a renowned midwife in the town. Eventually she is reunited with her son, brothers and father, and only by confronting the pain of her past, is she able to find peace in the present.