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.

"McLemore weaves another magic spell...The author spins a tale of first love, misfits forging their own places in the world, and the inherent prejudices of people who fear what they don't understand. This novel will leave an indelible mark on readers' hearts." Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

"A powerful exposé of how differences are misunderstood, judged, and villainized by fear... A bold contemporary journey into generational secrets and perceptions of evil and otherness." School Library Journal

"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." Robin LaFevers, New York Times bestselling author of His Fair Assassin

"A story to wreck your heart, sew it up, and set it free." Martha Brockenbrough, author of Alexander Hamilton, Revolutionary

Anna-Marie McLemore was born in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains and taught by their family to hear la llorona in the Santa Ana winds. They are the author of The Weight of Feathers, a finalist for the 2016 William C. Morris Debut Award; 2017 Stonewall Honor Book When the Moon Was Ours, which was longlisted for the National Book Award in Young People's Literature and was the winner of the James Tiptree Jr. Award; Wild Beauty, and Blanca & Roja.