Australian Women's Book Review Volume 14.1 - School of English ...

Tent is about Dinah, Jacob's daughter from the book of Genesis, Diamant struggles to capture a sense of
people and place. Most of all, it's the narration that lets Good Harbour down. The narrative voice is
tepid and unengaging, in direct contrast to the believable voice of Dinah that so easily brought us into
the world of The Red Tent.
While Kathleen and Joyce walk along the beach, their conversation paddles in the shallows. Secrets are
shared, and the secrets form a major part of their lives, but the level of engagement only laps at the
surface. This is a far cry from the all enveloping and warm narrative of The Red Tent.
The central concern of the novel is meant to be the friendship between Kathleen and Joyce, but how the
two women feel about each other and their friendship is wholly unexamined. There is no reflection
within the novel of the impact of the friendship on either woman's life, nor is there any engagement
with how the husbands feel about the friendship. What is especially lacking in this story about
friendship is intimacy. The reader can't get close to the characters because we are shut out of their
deeper inner thoughts. And there is a lack of intimacy in the representation of the friendship as well -
there is a wall around each of the characters that prevents any meaningful exchange. The reader is left
hoping there is more to friendship and intimacy than the depressing clichés contained within the pages
of Good Harbour.
Carolyn Hughes is completing an M Phil thesis in the School of English, Media Studies and Art
History at the University of Queensland.
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