The Dance Tree is one of the best books I have read in a long time and I would love you to read it too. The story is firmly grounded in history which I really like. In this case the setting is sixteenth century Germany; Alsace, sometimes German, sometimes French; in and around Strasbourg.
The narrative is concerned with plagues of dancing and these are an historical fact, of which I was totally ignorant. I love it when fiction teaches me history. They seemingly happened at times of great adversity, including extreme weather, failed harvests and approaching starvation. The dancing, nearly always by women, was feared by authorities, both civil and church. It lacked any control and was thought to be the work of the devil. Ignorance caused terror. With hindsight this activity would I think be described as religious mania.
The Dance Tree of the title is within a hidden copse and has ribbons hanging from the branches, symbolising for Lisbet a lost child, each one dying before it breathed life and before it was named. She carries another baby within her and wonders whether there will be a ribbon for this small life as well. Lisbet is surrounded by secrets. Secrets that she is aware of but does not understand. In this female focussed novel, the writer explores the place of women in the home, their lack of power over their own destiny and the malevolent attitude of the medieval church towards them. Female love of many kinds moves the narrative forward. Interestingly, in this modern world of gender discussion, this story reminds us that the whole variety of human feeling and passion has always existed, even if un-named and unacknowledged.
Lisbet keeps bees and they are important in this story (as they have been in several books I have recently read) and they always have an affirming, beneficent role to play, over and above providing nutritious food. The words in this book are truly honeyed and put together skilfully. I was not surprised to find out that Kiran Millwood Hargrave is a poet as well as a novelist. Her delight in language shines through. The prose is rich, powerful and poetic, making the story sing in my head long after I have turned the last page. This, in my opinion, is literary fiction at its best.
Dance is often used as a metaphor for life, well illustrated in the hymn The Lord of the Dance. As a means of religious expression it has always caused suspicion. The Shakers are an example and the backlash of such freedom is evident in the 17th century Puritan banning of dance per se and its modern use as defiant protest in Iran.
It became quite obvious from the emotional depth of the writing that the author had lost babies in her own life. I don’t think you could write quite so deeply convincingly if you had not had that experience. There was a tension that ran through the whole book, such that I really couldn’t predict how it would end.
A fabulous book to get lost in. Do give it a go.