With Anna-Marie McLemore’s signature lush prose, Dark and Deepest Red pairs the forbidding magic of a fairy tale with a modern story of passion and betrayal.Summer, 1518. A strange sickness sweeps through Strasbourg: women dance in the streets, some until they fall down dead. As rumors of witchcraft spread, suspicion turns toward Lavinia and her family, and Lavinia may have to do the unimaginable … have to do the unimaginable to save herself and everyone she loves.
Five centuries later, a pair of red shoes seal to Rosella Oliva’s feet, making her dance uncontrollably. They draw her toward a boy who knows the dancing fever’s history better than anyone: Emil, whose family was blamed for the fever five hundred years ago. But there’s more to what happened in 1518 than even Emil knows, and discovering the truth may decide whether Rosella survives the red shoes.
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Graceful as a dancing slipper, complex as a chemical reaction, magical as an incantation. A masterpiece.
One of the most beautiful books I’ve read in years. McLemore is a master.
Lush, bewitching, and captivating, this shines a triumphant light on the stories of those who have too long had to be silent or lived only in the shadows of history.
Historical and modern plot threads intertwine in this magical retelling of The Red Shoes. The writing is gorgeous, the characters are complex. It’s a story of persecution, especially in the past thread, but also of hope and resilience–and lots of love.
I honestly…don’t know what to make of this book? I mean I loved it, but I also can’t quite grasp it. I loved Lala and Alifair’s story, that I understood and embraced. It was beautiful, and Lala was brilliant. But the connection between the past and present, and how the spell in the present was broken….I still don’t really get. That being said, Emil and Rosella were lovely characters, and I loved the glimpses into their families and histories.
In 1518 Strasbourg, women began dancing in the streets and couldn’t stop – some died dancing. Witchcraft was, of course, suspected. The author has taken that historic fact, woven it with Anderson’s “Dancing Shoes,” and presented us with a technically well-written interesting story set both in 1518 and present day. It is told from three perspectives during the two time periods.
Unfortunately, this ambitious book never quite satisfies. The characters are not introduced well, are never clearly defined, and, therefore, never come to life and remain amorphous throughout the book. McLemore’s descriptions are deeply specific to the time period and the reader sometimes must pause and reconnoiter in order to determine where they are because while every switch in perspective has a character assigned to it, since they are not clearly drawn attention must be paid to each switch. Some readers may not want to work that hard when they read a book of fiction.
My thanks to Macmillan and Edelweiss for an eARC.
An interesting retelling. Capturing elements from Hans Christian Anderson’s classic fairy tale The Red Shoes, McLemore uses history to weave her fantasy inspired by the dancing plague of 1518.
The story unfolds through the eyes of three perspectives, two present-day and one from 1518. Capturing both worlds, the author highlights what the dancing plague was about, and the racism people from different cultures feel even in today’s day and age.
That connection to xenophobia is what drives the story, that being different is wrong, when it is not. By challenging that belief, the characters find the strength to be themselves and accept their culture others would have them repress or ignore.
Going beyond that, however, these two stories do not connect as much as the reader would hope. Rose made the shoes, but she has no connection to the plague of 1518, unlike Emil and his family. However, Rose is the one bewitched by her shoes; she is the one trapped. Rose becomes a plot device for Emil to learn about his past and accept his heritage, giving their arc of the story this perspective. In contrast, Lavinia’s arc is about living in fear due to her “exotic” features. Lavinia’s arc is about fighting the bigotry and prejudice in her homeland.
Nevertheless, while the connection between these perspectives is a bit of a stretch, it does offer readers a compelling read. They would not have been powerful by themselves, and by latching together, they make the story a whole.
The sort of book that ruins all other books for you. Lush, hypnotic, and an absolute feast for the senses… McLemore has once again proved themself to be one of the finest writers working today.
A story to wreck your heart, sew it up, and set it free.