Rosa and her uncle are private guides in the Andes. Inca culture and customs get introduced as they lead tourists Kelly and Tony on an excursion.
We learn about their pasts, their reasons for taking the tour and the history of violence that plagues Rosa. She just wanted to dance with her true love and become an archeologist, but meeting Diego changed the course of her life. It is a journey of personal discovery and self-realization, a passage of healing and a voyage to mending dark memories.
I have been an avid reader my whole life and I have to say that Marsha's writing style did something that not all authors can do, or maybe don't do very well. She put me in the scene ALL THE TIME. With descriptions of the house, the brilliant colors in the market, and the wilderness of the Andes, I felt like I was there. I could smell bread baking, taste the bitterness of coca tea and enjoy the chicken soup and stews. How is this different than other writers?
Many writers gloss over the scenery while others add details that become overkill. I
Marsha works the descriptions into the scene while expertly building each character. I trekked with the tourists, I climbed the Andes and I felt Rosa's emotional and physical struggles.
I enjoyed #DanceMeARevolution very much. I hope you'll read this short review and get a copy for yourself. You can buy a copy of it if you like physical books or as an ebook. Go to Marsha's profile @BurgConcerto to check it out. You won't be sorry!
Must read 🏆
In the colourful world of Andean treks and Inca artefacts, the revolution begins with a dance.
New Year’s Eve. Rosa dances, in that city built by conquistadors, in a dress of blue silk, suddenly beautiful. Diego catches her by the elbow, reciting love sonnets by Neruda, saying, ‘Tonight, no one expects revolution.’ She wants to dance some more, kiss some more, but he wants to bomb the power plant. She wants it, wants the revolution, to lead the Inca’s Pachakutiq---just…not tonight, with all the people dancing. The bomb explodes; she hopes it doesn’t tear her blue dress.
Rosa helps her uncle and mother prepare for the gringos arriving, bringing business for their Peruvian trekking tours. Kelly is shooting a film about the Inca Trail. Though keen to video everybody’s business, Kelly seems reluctant to talk about her own background. Tony has an agenda of his own; he is looking to smoke out coca traffickers, and he solicits the help of local lieutenant Valdes.
Kelly wants to feature Rosa as one in her series on ‘Outstanding Women’. Rosa’s claim to outstandingness is that she rode the stretch between Cusco and Quito, 15 kilometers every day. When young, she joined archaeological digs to uncover the Inca past. She learned Inca archaeology by day, revolution by night.
Leocadia, Rosa’s mother, is a folk healer, and she leads the gringos in some of their rituals. They experience the spirit of the puma, of the snake, of the condor, and they benefit from her herbal medicines.
As the Andean trek gets under way, involving an archaeological dig, whitewater rafting and a slide down a glacier, there is a shooting in the mountains, the military are hunting for coca factories. Diego is on the run from the Village Patrols, and he is threatening her family. Rosa seeks to distance herself from him—she’s a mother, now; she has her family’s business to worry about. Turns out, Tony has an agenda of his own for the trek; he has a destination in mind. Meanwhile, Rosa and Kelly discover that they have more in common than they had thought, and finally, Rosa agrees to let herself be filmed.
We are introduced to the indigenous culture of Peru as explained to the gringo tourists, and I found myself clicking onto Google every other paragraph before realising there is a glossary at the back. It really brings you into the world of the characters. And it’s a world new to me, so, I learned something.
I just love the title. The writing is gorgeous, and it’s well edited. The plot is exciting, working toward a beautiful climax. The gringos even play a role in saving the day, and Kelly gets it all on film. As a revolutionary myself, I was a bit sorry to see the revolutionary made to be the bad guy, but it makes a great story. And it all ends with a dance—the marinera.
