A review by erinrenee
The Dance Tree by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.75

The Dance Tree is a lyrical and vivid tale of secret love and loss set against the backdrop of the real-world dancing plague of 1518 in Strasbourg, France. Outside the city, pregnant Lisbet's simple but structured life is upended when Nethe, her sister-in-law, returns from years of exile for a crime that no one will reveal. Within the city, citizens suffer from starvation, a brutal heat wave and an oppressive city council called the Twenty One. When a woman begins to dance in the city square, only stopping at the point of exhaustion, others begin to join her, and their numbers begin to grow. Believing their best path to a cure and end of the mania is to force the dancers to continue the Twenty One bring in musicians and build stages. As the dancing mania escalates Lisbet's carefully crafted life begins to unravel when a group of musicians are placed as boarders at their home and the reason for Nethe's exile slowly becomes clear.  Full of suspense and richly detailed emotions, The Dance Tree is a lyrical story of a woman weighed down by loss who finds hope in the chance for new life. 

Atmospheric; Suspenseful; Thought-provoking; Descriptive; Lyrical; Richly detailed
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