The Dance Tree by Kiran Millwood Hargrave takes place during one of the most bizarre moments in European History. Did you know that one day in 1518, a woman called Frau Troffea started to dance in the streets of Strasbourg (then the Holy Roman Empire, now in France) and this started a mass hysteria culminating in hundreds of people dancing uncontrollably for days on end? People actually died, falling down with exhaustion. Very strange times.
What is The Dance Tree About?
The story follows Lisbet, who was born on the same day that a comet (the Ensisheim meteorite) crashed into her family’s farm, destroying one of their fields and ultimately their livelihood. Because of this, she truly believes that she is bad luck. She is now married to Henne, and lives with him and his mother on their family farm just outside Strasbourg.
Lisbet is pregnant, and terrified that she will miscarry. She has already lost a heartbreaking number of unborn children. In a society that believes that unbaptised babies go to Limbo, Lisbet secretly preserves their memories by tying ribbons to a tree hidden near the farm’s bee-keeping skeps. The tree is known as a dance tree, a remnant of pre-Christian beliefs in the area.
Their quiet lives are interrupted when Henne’s sister Nethe, who was sent away to a convent 7 years previously, returns. But nobody will tell Lisbet why. And then, once rumours of a strange dancing mania in Strasbourg start to circulate, their lives change forever. As Lisbet desperately searches for an answer, she uncovers a dangerous web of secrecy and superstition, but also love. A story of courage at a truly desolate period in human history, The Dance Tree is an inspiring read.
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