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The Dance Tree

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The Dance Tree

By: Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Narrated by: Ruta Gedmintas
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About this listen

The gripping, historical novel from Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Mercies.

Set in an era of superstition, hysteria, and extraordinary change, and inspired by the true events of a doomed summer, The Dance Tree is an impassioned story of family secrets, forbidden love, and women pushed to the edge.

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 as she is joined by hundreds of others, the authorities declare an emergency. Musicians will be brought in to play the Devil out of these women.

Just beyond the city’s limits, pregnant Lisbet lives with her mother-in-law and husband, tending the bees that are their livelihood. And then, as the dancing plague gathers momentum, Lisbet’s sister-in-law Nethe returns from seven years’ penance in the mountains for a crime no one will name.

It is a secret that Lisbet is determined to uncover. As the city buckles under the beat of a thousand feet, she finds herself thrust into a dangerous web of deceit and clandestine passion, but she is dancing to a dangerous tune . . .

©2022 Kiran Millwood Hargrave (P)2022 Macmillan Publishers International Limited
Fiction Historical Historical Fiction Romance Summer City

Critic Reviews

"Exceptionally brilliant. Immersive, sensual, compelling, ambitious." (Marian Keyes)

"Intriguing, haunting...raw, beautiful." (Jennifer Saint, author of Ariadne)

"I absolutely loved this book...spellbinding." (Elodie Harper, author of The Wolf Den)

What listeners say about The Dance Tree

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Beautifully narrated

I would listen to this narrator again I enjoyed her performance. I did not enjoy the book. I'm currently reading a lot of historical fiction set many, many years ago, mainly about women and their trials. I was very excited to purchase this and spent a while deciding whether to read or listen. I'm glad I chose to listen as I would not have finished this book. There was just so many, many descriptions of minutiae and it got a bit wearing. I'd hate to count the times the stench and filth of humanity was described. I do not think all of the descriptions added to the story. I love when a historical novel sets the scene so I can fully immerse myself in the day to day life of people I'm reading about, but this missed the mark for me. If I had to sum this up, it was book about words/descriptions to the detriment of the story.

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Sad when it finished

I'm very pleased I ignored the highlighted review which wasn't very good of this book. I loved it love the Story, characters & the contemporary problems in an historic setting. Highly recommend

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