Review: Dark and Deepest Red

Dark and Deepest Red by Anna-Marie McLemore
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So let me begin this review by getting a few things out of the way. We all know that I'm a sucker for a good fairy tale retelling, that I love magical realism, and I've yet to read a book by Anna-Marie McLemore I haven't liked. Their writing glimmers, just like the magic in this book. Let me also say, this isn't a book that's going to appeal to every reader because it's complicated, has strong elements of history, and it is queer as the day is long. But I loved it!

McLemore has recast Hans Christian Andersen's The Red Shoes against the backdrop of a real historic event, the dancing plague in Strasbourg in the year 1518. In the present day, it is theorized that exposure to psychoactive ergot fungus (which produces ergotamine, a chemical similar in structure to LSD) resulting in people dancing for days and even weeks, leading some to die from exhaustion, stroke, heart attack. McLemore theorizes that this event, and other similar events, in part, inspired Andersen's The Red Shoes a story in which a girl whose fancy red shoes are a cautionary tale. There is also the story that Andersen named the vain little girl in the story Karen, after his sister who he loathed, and that his father, who was, in fact, a cobbler, cut up a pair of red shoes he had made when a customer complained they were ugly and that he had ruined the silk they provided to make them. (This event is also retold in Dark and Deepest Red. The account is mentioned in Zlajov Zizek's Less Than Nothing: Hegel and the Shadow of Dialectical Materialism.) McLemore skillfully makes connections to these real events and the fairy tale.

The novel has two timelines, that of Lala (Lavinia) in 1514-1518, and that of Rosella and Emil in Briar Meadow, at an unspecified present day. Their stories are linked, but the reader will have to have considerable patience to learn how they are. Lala and her Tante (Aunt) Dorenia are Roma. This book was a fascinating exploration of Romani culture and the racism and persecution visited upon them in Europe. Lala falls in love with Alifair, a young man taken in by her Tante, who is more complicated than he seems. Though Alifair is not Roma, he has grown to have a sense of Romanipen, the complete zeitgeist of Roma culture. Times are dangerous in Strasbourg, and the Roma have been banned from the city.

Lala and Dorenia try to stay out of the way, and out of suspicion, in Strasbourg by not being overt in their display of Roma culture, as in their dress or practices. They keep their beliefs and their work to themselves. The Roma were widely considered outcasts, witches, and from the devil at this period in history. They were blamed for all kinds of ludicrous things, and it doesn't take long for the reader to know that Lala and Dorenia will be blamed for the dancing plague. In the modern portion of the story, both Emil, who is Roma, and Rosella, a Latina, experience racism and prejudice. And Emil also has dreams, terrible dreams, of a girl, a woman, screaming. Echoing to painful family history, buried in the past, he learns of terrible events involving distant relatives. Meanwhile, Rosella, whose family are shoemakers, falls into wearing their red shoes that are currently in fashion. Her mother says they have changed her and wants her to stop wearing them. The way that each of these characters must survive in a world that judges them as "other" forms a fascinating tale.

I appreciate all the love, research, and care that Anna-Marie McLemore has put into their book. It is so much more than a fairy tale retelling. Part of what makes it a good book for young adults is its ability to promote empathy for those who are marginalized, demonized, and to make us consider exactly why they are viewed as suspect. How different things might look in a later, more enlightened time.

"Because they were Romani. And because they were unmarried women who made their own living. Because everyone thought they were witches. All of the above. Whenever anything happens, people go looking for someone to blame."

I received a Digital Review Copy of this book and paper review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Want to buy a copy of Dark and Deepest Red from your local independent bookstore? Click HERE.

The digital audio copy of Dark and Deepest Red will be released on February 1st. You can purchase it through Libro.fm and have a portion of the sale benefit your local independent bookstore. I'll update this link when it becomes available.

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