To know that such a red tent could have existed, to imagine the strength and sisterhood of women in ancient times, provides modern readers with a new perspective and immediate connection. Now I would be welcome inside any tent when Rachel and Inna attended a birth. Now I could pour out the wine and make bread offerings at the new moon, and soon I would know the secrets that pass between men and women. Life will not always be so good to Dinah, but the book never missteps. We Were The Mulvaneys.
Readers witness the slow disintegration of the family with utter clarity but compassion, too.
Those who identify with the family's secrets will find themselves squirming on the couch or fighting to keep reading through tears of recognition. But, sad as the story gets at times, the book is ultimately about hope and forgiveness. The primary struggle, as seen by Judd, the youngest son, is between the truth that he seeks and the secrets the family members keep from each other. If memory didn't blur you wouldn't have the fool's courage to do things again, again, again, that tear you apart. It is within these blurs of memory that Judd seeks to reconcile his family.