The upcoming book is set during the real-lifeplague that struck Strasbourg in 1518, where an estimated 400 people died dancing,' author Isabel Ibañez says
Credit: Shelby Mahurin; Jacket design by Olga Grlic; Jacket illustration by The Balbusso Twins
NEED TO KNOW
- PEOPLE can exclusively reveal the cover for Isabel Ibañez’s upcoming book Witch Dance
- The book, set during the “dancing plague” of Strasbourg, France in 1518, tells the story of an undercover witch falling for a mysterious stranger, and her journey of finding strength in her secrets
- Witch Dance hits shelves March 9, 2027, wherever books are sold
Author Isabel Ibañez is bringing readers back to a mysterious historical event in 16th-century France with Witch Dance.
The #1 New York Times bestselling author's upcoming book is set in the summer of 1518, when "the citizens of Strasbourg are dancing themselves to death," an official synopsis reads.
The cover, revealed exclusively by PEOPLE, features a medieval-inspired illustration of a woman emerging from a mysterious forest carrying a gemstone and a green veil, with a city's historical skyline visible in the distance as a raven flies above and a skull lies below.
"Brilliant medical student Evelina del Valle arrives determined to stop the plague before the quarantined city collapses… while keeping a terrible and fatal secret: she's a witch," the synopsis continues.
After leaving her sister and coven, Evelina is now seeking a career in medicine — but it seems that the plague in Strasbourg requires a magical cure.
"The afflicted cannot stop dancing, and the local physicians insist they must 'dance it out,' even as bodies fall and no natural cause can be found," the synopsis continues.
Credit: Shelby Mahurin
Evelina then meets Alaric Keller, who is "secretive, dangerous and bound to the shadowed Black Forest beyond the city walls, where rumors whisper of hidden fae courts, gemstone magic and bargains struck in the dark," per the synopsis.
Alaric's mother was the plague's first victim, and he knows he needs Evelina's help, but he also knows her secret. The story then sees Evelina torn between her romantic feelings for Alaric, her duties to help the sick and her roots in witchcraft.
"I've always loved history, and throughout the course of my life, I've researched so many moments in time that felt, frankly, too incredible to be real," Ibañez tells PEOPLE of the inspiration that went into Witch Dance.
Ibañez names the Great Molasses Flood, the sinking of the Titanic and the Scottish witch trials "which saw the execution of some 1500 people, most of whom were women," along with the real-life "dancing plague" that struck Strasbourg in 1518, leaving 400 dead, as some of the historical events that intrigue her most.
Credit: Jacket design by Olga Grlic; Jacket illustration by The Balbusso Twins
"When I came across that particular event, my imagination sparked and the beginning of Witch Dance came to life," Ibañez tells PEOPLE. "Slowly, Evelina, my heroine, took shape in my mind as a witch who was pretending to be human, just so she could attend the Universidad de Salamanca as a student of medicine."
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"On the page, she showed up as a determined and capable woman who, at great risk to her life, would stop at nothing to discover a cure for the dancing plague," the author says of her female lead. "And of course, along the way, she meets a man who knows her terrible secret. I can't wait for you to meet them both!"
Witch Dance hits shelves on March 9, 2027, and is available for preorder now, wherever books are sold.
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