Since I was a child in Sunday School class, I had heard the stories of Jacob and his twelve sons, and Joseph and his coat of many colors. Here is a recap. Isaac, Jacob's father, was the boy whose father almost sacrificed him at the altar until God stopped him. Flash forward to Isaac and his wife, Rebecca and their twin sons. Jacob and Esau compete with each other up until their father is on his death bed. Since Esau was the "firstborn," he had the rights to his father's blessing. Esau was hairy, and his brother, Jacob was not, so Rebecca told her favorite son, Jacob, to put sheep's wool on his arms to fool his father and steal the blessing from his brother. He did just that. However, he had to flee from his brother's wrath and ended up in Canaan looking for work.
When he arrives in Canaan, he finds himself working for a man named Laban. Laban had two daughters, Leah and Rachel. Jacob wants to marry Rachel, but ends up marrying Leah first (long story), then Rachel, then he sleeps with their handmaidens. Out of these unions come twelve sons, and one daughter, Dinah.
Dinah grows up as the only girl and as the story in Genesis goes, she visits the king in Shechem, and falls in love with the king's son. What happens after that is not only tragic, but horrific. This is Dinah's story from her perspective and what it was like to grow up in Jacob's clan and then travel to Egypt.
This is the Biblical story told from a woman's perspective. It also reminds us that there have been many strong women throughout the ages. Dinah, whose "name - two syllables, one high, one sweet - summon up the innumerable smiles and tears, sighs and dreams of a human life."
