A dance plague hits Strasbourg in 1518

 

 ⭑⭑⭑⭑  The Dance Tree, much like Kiran Millwood Hargrave's previous effort, The Mercies, focuses on strong women of historical periods being oppressed and subjugated by men who believe religion and power allow them to treat women so badly. In The Dance Tree we are in Strasbourg in the sweltering summer of 1518. A plague has broken out of women dancing until they drop. Yes, this really happened.

Our main character is pregnant Lisbet who is a master beekeeper and struggling to keep her current child after suffering many miscarriages. Her husband is called away to answer charges related to their bees' honey and wax leaving her with her overbearing mother-in-law and newly returned sister-in-law, Agnethe. Agnethe has been away for seven years serving penance for a mysterious happening Lisbet knows nothing about. The only joy Lisbet has in life are working with her bees and the visits with her best friend, Ida. Once things settle into a new normal for Lisbet, sans husband, life deals her a new challange as two musicians are foisted upon them to house so that they might play music to the dancer thus hastening an end to the plague.

I absolutely loved The Mercies and felt the evil injustice of it keenly. I didn't connect to The Dance Tree in the same way. It is equally eloquent and poetic but didn't draw me in. The emotions of love, need and longing are so well written but I found the dwelling on Lisbet's previous loses, complaints of navigating the world with a bulky pregnant frame and thoughts of her dead mother to be so constant as to irritate me mildly. It's not a criticism but it did wear thin with repetition.

Descriptions of the dance tree, forest, common life chores and standards were exceptional. This was not a clean time period as betrayed by the smell of human filth, bad breath and excrement which were the norm for city dwellers. I loved the idea of the dance tree as a shrine. I can picture it so clearly in my mind and think this place alone would have provided Lisbet with all the mental health space she might need to endure her life as was.

I did enjoy reading The Dance Tree but perhaps not to the same level as The Mercies. It is well written and researched and good glimpse into a different time and place.