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caidyn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Infertility, Confinement, Pregnancy, Homophobia, and Miscarriage
albon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Miscarriage, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Grief, Death of parent, Outing, Pregnancy, Racism, Animal death, Confinement, Suicide, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Police brutality
jesselynn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
We follow Lisbet, a heavily pregnant young woman who keeps bees alongside her husband and mother-in-law. Lisbet is desperate for her unborn child's survival, due to multiple previous miscarriages, which wounds her and familial relationships deeply. When her husband's sister Agnethe returns from seven years in the mountains atoning for a mysterious sin, the path of her life is forever changed.
The content is very emotionally stimulating, with really moving and detailed language and a narrative that is very centred around Lisbet's feelings and emotional state. The cast of characters are interesting, with Lisbet's sister-in-law Nethe being a favourite of mine. The story explores a very harrowing sapphic relationship, as well as themes of religious fervour, immigration and xenophobia. The story is not an account of the Dancing Plague as such, but the events of the summer and strange event are an atmospheric setting, the rhythm of the dance weaved throughout Lisbet's story in interludes. The novel is much more character focused than a simple retelling, which I liked. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys historical fiction, especially women's historical fiction. Tread carefully if pregnancy, infertility and miscarriage is a trigger point for you.
Thanks to Picador for the reading copy in exchange for an honest review. I'll definitely be recommending this one to my customers and am looking forward to future works from Kiran Millwood Hargrave!
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Xenophobia, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Misogyny, Animal death, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual content, Confinement, Death of parent, Infertility, Blood, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Classism, and Miscarriage