The Dance Tree, Kiran Millwood Hargrave
The Dance Tree, Kiran Millwood Hargrave
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The Dance Tree
A Novel

Author: Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Narrator: Ruta Gedmintas

Unabridged: 9 hr 17 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 03/14/2023


Synopsis

""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 AriadneIn 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.

About Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Kiran Millwood Hargrave is an award-winning, bestselling novelist. Her books have been translated into thirty languages. Her debut novel for adults, The Mercies, was featured on the New York Times 100 Most Notable Book, USA Today Best Books of 2020, and won international awards including a Betty Trask Award and the Prix Rive Gauche à Paris. The Dance Tree is her second novel.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Angela M on June 02, 2023

The author in a note at the end of this book says ” It is difficult for contemporary readers to understand the absolute role of religion in medieval life, how fully it informed everything from medicine to punishment, tax to sex.” But I found this beautifully written, impactful novel to be a stunning......more

Goodreads review by Annette on December 05, 2022

What interested me into this story was the time period of plaque in the 16th century Europe and women who faced the religious obsessions. The story involves Lisbet who is a pregnant beekeeper and who suffers many miscarriages, and many tragedies in her life. Her city of Strasbourg is marked by starv......more

Goodreads review by Katie on June 29, 2023

A really wonderful read - rich, powerful and dramatic. I would definitely recommend.......more

Goodreads review by Sue on April 19, 2023

The Dance Tree is historical fiction set in Strasbourg, France in 1518. The 16th century was a time of severe weather, stubborn and severe summer heat, no rain and ruined crops. Combined with this were winters where people froze in the streets. At the end of the prior century, a comet had struck in......more