A Council of Dolls : a novel

Title:

Author:

Power, Mona Susan, 1961- author.

Personal Author:

Power, Mona Susan, 1961- author.

ISBN:

9780063281097

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

304 pages ; 24 cm

Abstract:

A modern masterpiece, A Council of Dolls is gorgeous, quietly devastating, and ultimately hopeful, shining a light on the echoing damage wrought by Indian boarding schools, and the historical massacres of Indigenous people. With stunning prose, Mona Susan Power weaves a spell of love and healing that comes alive on the page.

Subject Term:

Yanktonai Indians -- Fiction.

Indian women -- Fiction.

Dolls -- Fiction.

Off-reservation boarding schools -- Fiction.

Families -- Fiction.

Genre:

Novels.

Summary:

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Main Library	Book	FICTION POWER	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Main Library	Book	FICTION POWER	Searching... Unknown
Searching... West End	Book	FICTION POWER	Searching... Unknown
Searching... West End	Book	FICTION POWER	Searching... Unknown

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On Order

Summary

LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD

The long-awaited, profoundly moving, and unforgettable new novel from PEN Award-winning Native American author Mona Susan Power, spanning three generations of Yanktonai Dakota women from the 19th century to the present day.

From the mid-century metropolis of Chicago to the windswept ancestral lands of the Dakota people, to the bleak and brutal Indian boarding schools, A Council of Dolls is the story of three women, told in part through the stories of the dolls they carried....

Sissy, born 1961: Sissy's relationship with her beautiful and volatile mother is difficult, even dangerous, but her life is also filled with beautiful things, including a new Christmas present, a doll called Ethel. Ethel whispers advice and kindness in Sissy's ear, and in one especially terrifying moment, maybe even saves Sissy's life.

Lillian, born 1925: Born in her ancestral lands in a time of terrible change, Lillian clings to her sister, Blanche, and her doll, Mae. When the sisters are forced to attend an "Indian school" far from their home, Blanche refuses to be cowed by the school's abusive nuns. But when tragedy strikes the sisters, the doll Mae finds her way to defend the girls.

Cora, born 1888: Though she was born into the brutal legacy of the "Indian Wars," Cora isn't afraid of the white men who remove her to a school across the country to be "civilized." When teachers burn her beloved buckskin and beaded doll Winona, Cora discovers that the spirit of Winona may not be entirely lost...

Reviews (1)

Kirkus Review

A history of women described by way of their dolls. For her latest novel, Power has chosen an unusual organizing principle: dolls. The book describes three generations of Dakhóta and Lakhóta women--girls, really--from most recent to least, and back again. Each girl had a beloved doll. In the 1960s, Sissy had Ethel, a Black Tiny Thumbelina doll. In the '30s, Lily had Mae, a used Shirley Temple doll. And at the beginning of the century, Cora had Winona, a traditional Dakota doll made from deer hide. Each doll seems to be inhabited by a spirit; each girl seems to hear her speak. Cora, and Lily after her, suffer at the Indian boarding schools they're forced to attend, and while their dolls try to protect them, their powers are limited. Sissy, meanwhile, bears the brunt of her mother's inherited trauma. Power's book contains many evocative moments and even more lyrical passages, such as this one, where she describes the boarding school that Cora and Lily attend: "this strange place, which purposely unravels the fabric of its students to remake them into something they might not recognize." But the premise of the book is saccharine. It might have worked better as a middle-grade title or a young adult novel. In the book's last quarter, Sissy, now an adult writer who has changed her name to Jesse, tries to confront her own and her ancestors' pasts. This is the only part of the novel that contains significant amounts of dialogue. Unfortunately, the dialogue is stilted and two-dimensional, and the book's ending drags on--and on. An occasionally moving book that's been steeped a minute too long in sentimentality. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.