Review: Dance Me a Revolution

Marsha Mildon, Dance me a Revolution (BookBaby 2021)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58245147-dance-me-a-revolution?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_21

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.