Dark and Deepest Red
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 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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Community Reviews
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. (★★★★☆)
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