The Dance Tree by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

When a group of readers decided to head to Strasbourg for a canal barge cruise adventure, it was only natural that we would try to find a book that was pertinent to the area and its history. We cane up with a perfect book that fit that bill. In 1518 in Strasbourg, there was a frenzy among women that was called the Dancing Plague. The Dance Tree takes place in that year and has as a major plot subject the plague. However, it goes beyond just describing the time, events, and place and focuses on the social mores and the characters that play such a role in the novel. 

Lisbet lives with her husband Henne on the outskirts of the city. She has suffered 12 miscarriages and is pregnant again. She has memorialized those pregnancies by tying ribbons to a try in the midst of a forest. Lisbet is a an apiarist with hundreds of skeps on their property. As a result of a vicious and vindictive neighbor, Plater<  who is a member of the Twenty-One,  Henne must travel to Heidelberg to defend their livelihood against the desire of the church to appropriate the land. Lisbet is left alone with Agnethe, her sister-in-law who has just returned from seven years serving out a sentence for committing a crime that appears to be some sort of immorality. She also lives with her mother-in-law, Sophie. Her best friend, Ida is married to Plater and has a strong connection with Ida. 

 When the town brings in musicians to help tame the frenetic dancing, Plater orders two of them to stay with Lisbet. She becomes friends with Eren, who is determined to protect her. 

As the plot develops, the reader learns the secret of Agnethe and connection between the two best friends and their husbands. Not only is this a fascinating novel, but Hargrave exposes many of the same struggles and situations that women face today - 

• motherhood and loss
• marriage and obedience to men
• female friendship
• religious authority
• sexuality and forbidden love
• superstition
• women's limited power 

In the end there is some resolution, but the one concept that has changed is the way Lisbet will lead her life. She sees it through a different lens because of what has happened to her family and friends. It will be an interesting book to discuss.