
The Dance Tree
A Novel
by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
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Pub Date Mar 14 2023 | Archive Date May 09 2023
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Description
“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 Ariadne
“Some historical novels don'’ just describe the past, they transport you there . . . An exceptionally beautiful portrait of women from the past, told in the most spellbinding prose.”—Elodie Harper, author of the #1 London Times bestseller The Wolf Den
In 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.
Available Editions
EDITION | Other Format |
ISBN | 9780063274778 |
PRICE | $27.99 (USD) |
PAGES | 256 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews

An absolute breathtaking tale — the writing, for one, was utterly absorbing and woven with subtle magic. The story itself was so powerful and deeply resonant, and I would sell my soul for the book to have never ended. Enchanting beyond belief.

Hargrave does it again, with a gorgeous and detailed historic fiction that deals with the struggles that women and LGBTQ people used to experience. Based on actual historic events, this book is grounded in reality which makes it that much more multidimensional.