Anita Diamant, October 12-16

[emeraldisle]

Replying to the post with the opinion that men should read The Red Tent also to understand women better: When my son was a resident at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Ctr. in Hanover, NH, all the ob-gyns read The Red Tent!  He felt it added a whole new dimension to their understanding of their female patients. Thanks, Anita, from all those women they treat and will treat in the future!

I find it interesting that your novels are set in two such diverse places -- Cape Ann (which I know well)  and Israel (which I have never visited). What about  a sense of place prompts your choices of location? 

[Anita-Diamant]

I've gotten some amazing responses from doctors (also nurses and midwives) about The Red Tent. It's amazing to me how a novel can "teach" medical practitioners. It speaks to the power of the arts to inform our lives, including the sciences. Thanks for telling me about your son's experience.

As to the question about "place," I think it's a bit of an accident that these two locations have been my settings, although for "Good Harbor," it was very much the geography and also the culture of Cape All that inspired me. (Those Madonnas in the yards, for example)

But in the other three books, it  was the germ of a story that reached out to me; as mentioned above, that pamphlet in the bookstore prompted Last Days of Dogtown.

For The Red Tent, it was the untold story of the women in the bible that was my inspiration.

And Day After Night came out of trip I took to Israel when my daughter was in a high school semester program there. A field trip to Atlit was part of the itinerary for the class while the parents were there to visit, and that's where I found this story.

Eventually, place then becomes almost a "character" in my novels, because to me, landscapes, odors, climates, all of that impacts how characters feel and act.

[basson_mommy12]

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emeraldisle wrote:

Replying to the post with the opinion that men should read The Red Tent also to understand women better: When my son was a resident at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Ctr. in Hanover, NH, all the ob-gyns read The Red Tent!  He felt it added a whole new dimension to their understanding of their female patients. Thanks, Anita, from all those women they treat and will treat in the future!

I find it interesting that your novels are set in two such diverse places -- Cape Ann (which I know well)  and Israel (which I have never visited). What about  a sense of place prompts your choices of location? 

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Emeraldisle:

Fascinating!  Thanks for the comment.

[KathyS]

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Anita-Diamant wrote:

I've gotten some amazing responses from doctors (also nurses and midwives) about The Red Tent. It's amazing to me how a novel can "teach" medical practitioners. It speaks to the power of the arts to inform our lives, including the sciences. Thanks for telling me about your son's experience.

As to the question about "place," I think it's a bit of an accident that these two locations have been my settings, although for "Good Harbor," it was very much the geography and also the culture of Cape All that inspired me. (Those Madonnas in the yards, for example)

But in the other three books, it  was the germ of a story that reached out to me; as mentioned above, that pamphlet in the bookstore prompted Last Days of Dogtown.

For The Red Tent, it was the untold story of the women in the bible that was my inspiration.

And Day After Night came out of trip I took to Israel when my daughter was in a high school semester program there. A field trip to Atlit was part of the itinerary for the class while the parents were there to visit, and that's where I found this story.

Eventually, place then becomes almost a "character" in my novels, because to me, landscapes, odors, climates, all of that impacts how characters feel and act.

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Anita, I'm tempted to say, there are no "bits" of accidents, where it comes to finding a sense of place.  For a story to be told, I think it's something that is there in your heart, a place you may not be aware of.  And the finding it, simply comes from looking, unaware, perhaps...but you look...  I think we're all teachers, and students, and finding the answers are in the looking into people's lives.  You find their place, and you make it your own when you write about them. 

K.

[Anita-Diamant]

Thanks to those of you who dropped by and especially to those who also shared their thoughts this week. (Kathy you win the gold star.) I appreciate the opportunity to connect with readers in any an all settings.

Thanks to our moderator, Bethanne.

Maybe I'll see some of you at a reading in the future. Check my website www.anitadiamant.com to see where I'm heading in the coming weeks and months. I try to update the "events" section often.

And I'd also like to invite you to my blog, www.anitadiamant.blogspot.com, for musings and news.

Best wishes and blessings to all.

AD

[KathyS]

Thanks for coming back to see us, Anita! It was fun talking to you, again.  I'll check your sites and see what's happening.....and thanks for the "gold star"....I've always wanted one of those!  Ha! 

Best on your tour....

Blessing back at you! 

Kathy 

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Anita-Diamant wrote:

Thanks to those of you who dropped by and especially to those who also shared their thoughts this week. (Kathy you win the gold star.) I appreciate the opportunity to connect with readers in any an all settings.

Thanks to our moderator, Bethanne.

Maybe I'll see some of you at a reading in the future. Check my website www.anitadiamant.com to see where I'm heading in the coming weeks and months. I try to update the "events" section often.

And I'd also like to invite you to my blog, www.anitadiamant.blogspot.com, for musings and news.

Best wishes and blessings to all.

AD

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[Vermontcozy]

Dear Anita,,I am so sorry that i missed you..I just wanted to thank you for writing "The Red Tent" it brought me so close to my roots,that it was like starting at the beginning of my Jewish-Hebrew..History....The book is beautiful..In Dorset,Vt  where i live,The Longtrail School approx.2yrs ago presented the Play' The Red Tent 'to sold out audiences..For all of us who have read the book,80% OF THE CROWD,THE BOOK WAS BROUGHT TO LIFE....Good Luck with your new novel,which I will be reading this winter..Have a Great Holiday Season...Vtc