The Dance Tree
Ratings9
Average rating3.9
"If some prose sings, Kiran Millwood Hargrave’s truly dances. Although set in the early sixteenth century, The Dance Tree addresses issues of the utmost importance today—the subjection of women, class inequality, the dangers of religious fundamentalism. Ultimately, however, the book’s wisdom, compassion, and beauty transcend historical boundaries: this is a timeless novel."—Hernan Diaz, author of In the Distance and Trust “An intriguing, haunting novel pulsing with raw, beautiful emotion. Kiran Millwood-Hargrave effortlessly intertwines the stories of women tenderly and sympathetically, creating a novel in which female courage and resilience shines brightly against a brilliantly evoked backdrop of claustrophobic horror.”—Jennifer Saint, author of Ariadne In this gripping historical novel, the internationally bestselling author of The Mercies weaves a spellbinding tale of fear, transformation, courage, and love in sixteenth-century France. Strasbourg, 1518. In the midst of a blisteringly hot summer, a lone woman begins to dance in the city square. She dances for days without pause or rest, and when hundreds of other women join her, the men running the city declare a state of emergency and hire musicians to play the Devil out of the mob. Outside the city, pregnant Lisbet lives with her husband and mother-in-law, tending the bees that are the family’s livelihood. Though Lisbet is removed from the frenzy of the dancing plague afflicting the city’s women, her own quiet life is upended by the arrival of her sister-in-law. Nethe has been away for seven years, serving a penance in the mountains for a crime no one will name. It is a secret Lisbet is determined to uncover. As the city buckles under the beat of a thousand feet, Lisbet becomes caught in a dangerous web of deceit and clandestine passion. Like the women of Strasbourg, she too, is dancing to a dangerous tune. . . . Set in an era of superstition, hysteria, and extraordinary change, and inspired by true events, The Dance Tree is an impassioned story of family secrets, forbidden love, and women pushed to the edge.
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At the center of this story it's really about Lisbet and her worries over her pregnancy, and sorrow over her multiple miscarriages prior to this. I have no children and I've thankfully not have had to endure that particular road of loss, so needless to add but this story could not move me in any profound or meaningful way.
And a novel doesn't owe me this - it doesn't owe me a story that only I can relate to. And I've loved many novels that didn't relate to me at all, and still moved me by the end. However, I did pick this up based on the blurbs and synopsis and was left feeling awkward within this story as it had the parts of what was in the synopsis but none of the follow through.
The dancing plague is almost, just almost an after-thought to this story. We get chapters in between the plot line with Lisbet of woman who join in on the dancing, a brief glimpse into their lives before they join the masses. But it seems wildly out of place when the plot line just touches onto this ‘dancing plague' not happening all that far from Lisbet. Seemingly used primarily as a point to allow certain characters to meet, or argue, converse, or conspire. I was hopeful of more conversations regarding the religion and beliefs, and conspiracies as to why all these women lost themselves in the movement (literal and figuratively). I'd of liked to of spent more time amongst the crowds and how this was affecting their loved ones.
We get Nethe, and we get Ida. Their presence seemingly too quick within scenes. Their personal struggles and unraveling not nearly as encompassing or important to the flow of this. Their stories heart breaking and sad, wholly believable, yet nothing that would leave a lasting impression on me. Mainly due to how it's all framed, forever and solely Lisbet being her world and us revolving around it.
The bad guy, Plater, is the bad guy to all in this story. His actions easily determined by all the twirling mustache ‘bad man' predecessors in novels, art, movies... and with all the typical-ness of this character we're not treated with particularly deep insights of motivations for him, or nuanced conversations. A caricature is all that was left.
The author said as much herself in the acknowledgements, that she wanted a story to touch on the loss of life and grief that so many woman experience from miscarriages, and the fears and uncertainty of motherhood in general. She achieved that. But more should be warned that that is all they're really going to get from this story.
slight spoilers for the ending and themes Historical fiction taking place in the summer of 1518 in Strasbourg, where a mysterious dance plague is occurring. It follows pregnant Lisbet who lives with her mother-in-law and husband, beekeepers whose livehood is threatened and welcoming back her sister in law who returns from penance because of a crime no one will name. What a stunning book this was. I loved the lush emotional writing, with the use of present tense that made the story more vivid and engaging. Lisbet was a great main character, I loved her complexity and realness, her quiet strength, her empathy towards others despite their differences, her love for her friends and family. I love how devoted she was working with the bees and her relationship to the forest. The other characters were compelling though I would have loved to see their points of view too. The plot itself was pretty straightforward and there was no twist, although I did expect more about the dancing plague then the few chapters scattered throughout about the dancers. The historical setting was really well rendered and I loved how various themes of religion, grief, motherhood, female agency, mental illness, patriarchy, homophobia, misogyny were entwined into the plot. The bittersweet ending was really emotional to read. I also recommend reading the afterwords, that explains the historical context and how the author's personal experience also influenced one plot point.
Overall an incredible book and I'm looking forward to read more of this author's work.
