A Council of Dolls explained

A Council of Dolls
Author:Mona Susan Power
Country:United States
Language:English
Publisher:Mariner Books imprint of HarperCollins
Pub Date:8 August 2023
Media Type:Printed novel
Pages:308
Isbn:9780063281097
Isbn Note:hardcover
Oclc:1340038999
Dewey:813/54-dc23/eng/20220808
Congress:PS3566.083578 C68 2023

A Council of Dolls is a 2023 historical fiction novel about multiple generations of Yanktonai Dakota women grappling with the effects of settler colonialism, told partially through the point of view of their dolls. The novel is by Mona Susan Power (Standing Rock Sioux), PEN Award-winning author of several works related to Native identity, such as The Grass Dancer.[1] The book was released through Mariner Books August 2023. A Council of Dolls was longlisted for the 2023 National Book Award for Fiction.[2] [3]

Plot summary

Three generations of Dakota girls and their dolls live through family and societal change. The girls and dolls can talk to each other, and the dolls have powers to help the girls through the tragedies they face.[4] The narrative is non-linear.[5]

Concept and creation

A Council of Dolls was published nearly thirty years after the success of Mona Susan Power's debut novel The Grass Dancer. Power struggled with mental health and her writing practice following her debut.[6]

The novel is an expansion on an earlier story about dolls published in The Missouri Review called "Naming Ceremony".[7] "Naming Ceremony" was runner-up for the 2020 Jeffrey E. Smith Editors’ Prize[8] [9] and a finalist for the 2019 Rick DeMarinis Short Story Prize.[10]

Power was guided by her family's own history with unwelcome government intervention into Native society and multigenerational experiences with Indian boarding schools. The novel is semi-autobiographical,[11] with the characters and story based on herself, her own family members, and their family history. The character of Lillian is based on her mother, activist Susan Kelly Power, one of the founders of the American Indian Center in Chicago, Illinois. While writing another novel in 2014 entitled Harvard Indian Seance at Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast, Power felt compelled to tell the story of boarding school survivors. Weeks later, international news broke about child burials at Canadian boarding schools, which she says explained her need to tell boarding school stories. Power wrote about several generations of the family because she wanted readers to sympathize with the effects of their intergenerational trauma, rather than condemn them.[12] For Writer's Digest she explained: "My concern that the mother character will be judged and disliked for her woundedness, the dangers it creates, leads me to include two more generations of girls and their stories. As I write, I feel ancestors crowding into the small room. This is their story, too. I believe they support my efforts, cheer me on, as if my healing the past will help them set down their own sadness and regret."[13] At times writing the novel was so emotional she would cry.[14] [15] [16] "A Council of Dolls is my attempt to be part of a long overdue, ferociously suppressed healing ceremony."[17] (The book dedication reads "For my ancestors".)[18]

The novel was written during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. The first draft was completed in four months following recovery from a broken arm in May 2021.[19] [20] Power was completing copy-edits in 2022.[21]

Release

Power held a launch party on publication day 8 August 2023 at the Birchbark Books event space Birchbark Bizhew in Minneapolis, Minnesota.[22] [23] The first printing was 75,000 books.[24] A paperback version was released November 5, 2024.[25] [26]

The cover art is by Dakota beadwork artist Holly Young (Standing Rock Sioux), who connected with Power while researching prominent historical beadworker Nellie Two Bears Gates (Standing Rock Sioux), who is Power's great-grandmother. Publisher Harper Collins chose an existing piece for A Council of Dolls: floral appliqué beadwork sewn onto blue velvet cloth in traditional Dakota style. Young also created a custom work for the cover of Diane Wilson's The Seed Keeper, and the newest edition of The Grass Dancer.[27] [28] [11]

Reception

Overall reception was positive.[29] A starred review by Publishers Weekly calls it a "story of survival that shines brightly," and says Power reveals a "deep knowledge of Indigenous history" and the book is a "keen" and "wrenching" depiction of boarding schools.[30] Booklist describes the novel as a "heart-wrenching account of inherited trauma and resilience" that "is perceptively told."[31] Midwest Book Review "unreservedly recommend[s]" the book as a "masterpiece of literary elegance and emotional eloquence".[32] Kirkus Reviews had a mixed response to the book, saying it was "occasionally moving" but "steeped a little bit too long in sentimentality."[33]

Dakota author Gabrielle Tateyuskanskan of the Oceti Sakowin Writers Society praised A Council of Dolls for bringing to light the experiences of boarding school survivors and their descendants, and relates events in the book to recorded abuses at boarding schools raised in legal cases and academic studies.[34]

Centers for the Book of the Library of Congress selected A Council of Dolls as one of Minnesota's "Great Reads for Adults".[35] The novel was featured in The New Yorker's Best Books of 2023. Good Housekeeping recommended it as part of their GH Book Club, and as sixth out of thirty "must-read" books by Native authors.[36] [37] [38] People and Washington Post also highlighted the novel.[39] [40] It was the November Target Book Club Pick.[41] [42]

Awards

A Council of Dolls was longlisted for the 2023 National Book Award for Fiction and the 2024 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, and won the 2024 Minnesota Book Awards category for novels.[43] [44] [45] [46] [47] The novel won the woman writer category for the High Plains Book Awards, which honors books about the High Plains region in the U.S. and Canada.[48] [49] [50]

Editions

A Council of Dolls is also available as an audiobook from HarperAudio, read by actress Isabella Star LaBlanc (Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate), and in ebook and large print format .[4]

Minnesota State Services for the Blind read the book live on-air in a twelve part broadcast series starting May 28, 2024, part of their Radio Talking Book program, which communicates publications such as newspapers, magazines, and popular books via radio 24-hours a day.[51]

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: About. Mona Susan Power. 2023-10-14. 2023-11-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20231101193130/https://www.monasusanpower.com/about. live.
  2. News: National Book Awards Longlist 2023 . The Washington Post . 14 October 2023 .
  3. Web site: A Council of Dolls . . 19 November 2023 . 19 November 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231119070158/https://www.nationalbook.org/books/a-council-of-dolls/ . live .
  4. Web site: A Council of Dolls by Mona Susan Power . HarperCollins . 14 October 2023 . 12 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231012191924/https://www.harpercollins.com/products/a-council-of-dolls-mona-susan-power?variant=40976837345314 . live .
  5. Web site: Brittle . Jack . Mona Susan Power At BurlLITFest: An Intimate Exploration of Heritage, Imagination, and Resilience . . November 20, 2024 . November 25, 2024.
  6. "All the books longlisted for the National Book Awards this year." Washingtonpost.com, 15 Sept. 2023, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A765445489/GPS?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=3826a18e. Accessed 23 Oct. 2024.
  7. Web site: A Council of Dolls Reading Group Kit . HarperCollins . Mariner Books . 14 October 2023 . 1 November 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231101193130/https://b0f646cfbd7462424f7a-f9758a43fb7c33cc8adda0fd36101899.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/reading-guides/RG-9780063281097.pdf . live .
  8. Web site: An Interview with Mona Susan Power . Geger . Annalisa . Jensen . Kaitlyn . 22 December 2023 . The Missouri Review . University of Missouri . 14 October 2023 . 1 November 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231101193130/https://missourireview.com/an-interview-with-mona-susan-power/ . live .
  9. Web site: Naming Ceremony . Power . Mona Susan . 18 April 2023 . . Curators of the University of Missouri . 4 November 2023 . 4 November 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231104205209/https://missourireview.com/naming-ceremony-by-mona-susan-power/ . live .
  10. Uschuk . Pamela . Spring 2019 . FINALISTS 2019 RICK DEMARINIS SHORT STORY PRIZE . CUTTHROAT, A Journal of the Arts . 24 . 1&2 . 4 . November 3, 2024 . November 1, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201101045659/http://www.cutthroatmag.com/cutthroat_25_VI_pdf.pdf . live .
  11. Smith . Matthew Ryan . Summer 2024 . Art+Lit: Mona Susan Power: Yanktonai Dakota Author . . Norman, Oklahoma . 96–99 . 43 . 2333-5548.
  12. Mona Susan Power (with Guest star Dr. Lindsey Claire Smith of NYU fame) . Reel Indigenous . July 25, 2024 . July 25, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240725200231/https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mona-susan-power-with-guest-star-dr-lindsey-claire/id1613960383?i=1000660135914 . live .
  13. Mona Susan . Power . Animate Pages . . 22 . September–October 2024 . Active Interest Media, Inc . 104 . 5 . EBSCOhost.
  14. News: Book offers history through children's eyes. ICT News. 18 August 2023. 14 October 2023. 1 November 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231101193130/https://ictnews.org/newscasts/08-18-2023. live.
  15. Web site: Review: Minneapolis writer explores the inanimate friends who save us in 'A Council of Dolls' . Memmott . Carol . 3 August 2023 . . 2 November 2023 . 08952825 . . 3 November 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231103020547/https://www.startribune.com/review-minneapolis-writer-explores-the-inanimate-friends-who-save-us-in-a-council-of-dolls/600294519/ . live .
  16. Web site: Author Mona Susan Power Comes in From the Cold . Nelson . Kate . 20 November 2023 . . . 21 November 2023 . 21 November 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231121211006/https://www.thecut.com/article/how-mona-susan-power-gets-it-done.html . live .
  17. Mona Susan Power . October 22, 2024 . One Book, One Community: A Council of Dolls . en . October 23, 2024 . video . 32:25 . Pablo Center at the Confluence, Eau Claire, Wisconsin . Chippewa Valley Book Festival, L.E. Philips Memorial Public Library . A Council of Dolls is my attempt to be part of a long overdue, ferociously suppressed healing ceremony. .
  18. Book: Power, Mona Susan . A Council of Dolls . Mariner Books . New York . 2023 . 978-0-06-328109-7.
  19. Web site: Author of "A Council of Dolls" joins WCCO Saturday Morning's . 19 August 2023 . . . 1 November 2023 . 1 November 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231101203648/https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/video/author-of-a-council-of-dolls-joins-wcco-saturday-mornings/ . live .
  20. Web site: After a Long and Painful Absence, Writing Her Way Home Again . Greenblatt . Leah . 7 August 2023 . . 2 November 2023 . 15538095 . .
  21. Web site: In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—Mona Susan Power . 12 September 2022 . . 2 November 2023 . 3 November 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231103022203/https://waterstonereview.com/in-the-field-contributions-from-our-contributors-mona-susan-power/ . live .
  22. Web site: Mona Susan Power: A Council of Dolls Publication Celebration . . 2 November 2023 . 3 November 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231103020546/https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mona-susan-power-a-council-of-dolls-publication-celebration-tickets-665717487927 . live .
  23. Web site: Community Calendar – July 2023 . The Circle News . July 6, 2023 . November 15, 2024 . July 12, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230712200719/https://thecirclenews.org/events/calendar/community-calendar-july-2023/ . live .
  24. Hoffert . Barbara . 2023 . A Council of Dolls . . 148 . 3 . 118 . October 23, 2024 . . 0363-0277.
  25. Web site: Week of November 4, 2024 . November 4, 2024 . . The Book Report, Inc . November 8, 2024 .
  26. Web site: Constant . Paul . Step out of your comfort zone with these 10 new-in-paperback releases . . November 6, 2024 . November 8, 2024.
  27. Web site: A Council of Dolls Beadwork Print by Holly Young . Old Cedar Native Arts . October 20, 2024.
  28. Web site: Holly Young . Mdewakanton: Dwellers of the Spirit Lake . August 25, 2020 . October 20, 2024 . June 20, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240620130759/https://hocokatati.org/featured_items/holly-young/ . live .
  29. Web site: Book Marks reviews of A Council of Dolls by Mona Susan Power . . August 8, 2023 . November 3, 2024 . August 11, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230811005737/https://bookmarks.reviews/reviews/a-council-of-dolls/ . live .
  30. Web site: A Council of Dolls . August 2023 . Publishers Weekly . 14 October 2023 . 00000019 . .
  31. Johnson . Sarah . July 1, 2023 . A Council of Dolls . . American Library Association. 119 . 21 . 26 . June 21, 2024 . Gale in Context: Biography . 00067385 . .
  32. September 2023 . A Council of Dolls . . . November 8, 2024 . . Gale General OneFile.
  33. Web site: A COUNCIL OF DOLLS. Kirkus Reviews. 8 June 2023. 14 October 2023. 19487428 . . 1 November 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231101193129/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/mona-susan-power/a-council-of-dolls/. live.
  34. Tateyuskanskan . Gabrielle . Fall–Winter 2023 . A Council of Dolls: A Novel by Mona Susan Power (review) . . 35 . 3–4 . 84–86 . 10.1353/ail.2023.a928908 . . 1548-9590 . June 20, 2024 . 0730-3238 . .
  35. "Library of Congress Centers for the Book Choose 'Great Reads' Titles for Each State, Territory for 2024 National Book Festival." Targeted News Service, 17 May 2024, p. NA. Gale OneFile: News, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A794162835/GPS?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=4217dda0. Accessed 23 Oct. 2024.
  36. Web site: All of Our Feel-Good Book Club Reviews . Schumer . Lizz . 2 November 2023 . . . 2 November 2023 . 0017209X . .
  37. Web site: Celebrate the holidays with an Indigenous gift guide . 6 December 2023 . . . 19 December 2023 .
  38. Web site: Schumer . Lizz . Vincent . Sarah . 30 Must-Read Books by Native American and Indigenous Authors . Good Housekeeping . September 30, 2024 . October 12, 2024 . October 2, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20241002005745/https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/entertainment/g38066444/native-american-books/ . live .
  39. Nora Krug, Becky Meloan. Beach bag refill: Books to get you to the end of summer and beyond. Washington Post, The. 2023, 7AD. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bwh&AN=wapo.06f4b27c-2bd3-11ee-a7a5-21b2a306e86e&site=eds-live&scope=site
  40. Winik Movies M, Vanhoose B. Picks. People. 2023;100(9):27-31. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=169960703&site=eds-live&scope=site
  41. Web site: Target Book Club . Target . November 6, 2024 . November 8, 2024 . November 16, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20241116211735/https://www.target.com/c/target-book-club/-/N-5deed . live .
  42. Web site: Book Club Picks for November 2024 . Publishers Weekly . November 11, 2024 . November 14, 2024.
  43. News: National Book Awards Longlist 2023 . The Washington Post . 14 October 2023 .
  44. Web site: A Council of Dolls . . 19 November 2023 . 19 November 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231119070158/https://www.nationalbook.org/books/a-council-of-dolls/ . live .
  45. News: Minnesota Book Awards Winners & Finalists . January 27, 2023 . The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library . May 15, 2024 . December 17, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191217223331/https://thefriends.org/minnesota-book-awards/minnesota-book-awards-winners/ . live .
  46. Web site: 2024 Longlist . Carol Shields Prize for Fiction . April 9, 2024 . April 10, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240410021003/https://carolshieldsprizeforfiction.com/2024-longlist . live .
  47. Web site: Minnesota Book Awards announces 2024 winners . Sparber . Max . May 8, 2024 . . . May 15, 2024.
  48. Web site: Finalists for the High Plains Book Awards diverse group . June 20, 2024 . . June 20, 2024 .
  49. Web site: About Us . High Plains Book Awards . June 20, 2024 . June 20, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240620232436/https://highplainsbookawards.org/about-us/ . live .
  50. Web site: Winners . High Plains Book Awards . . October 12, 2024.
  51. Web site: RTB Radio News . State Services for the Blind . Minnesota State Employment and Economic Development . June 20, 2024 . Choice Reading. Monday – Friday 2:00 p.m. A Council of Dolls – Fiction by Mona Susan Power, 2023. A profoundly moving novel spanning three generations of Yanktonai Dakota women from the 19th century to the present day. Read by Pat Muir. 12 broadcasts; begins Tuesday, May 28. . June 20, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240620234914/https://mn.gov/deed/ssb/communication-center/rtb/news/ . live .

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