A Council of Dolls
First edition cover
AuthorMona Susan Power
Cover artist
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre
  • Indigenous
  • Literary
  • Cultural Heritage
  • Magical Realism
  • Historical / 20th Century / General
  • Coming of Age
  • Own Voices
  • Saga
[2]
Set in
PublisherMariner Books imprint of HarperCollins
Publication date
8 August 2023[2]
Media typePrinted novel
Pages308
ISBN9780063281097 hardcover
OCLC1340038999
813/54-dc23/eng/20220808
LC ClassPS3566.083578 C68 2023
Websitewww.monasusanpower.com/a-council-of-dolls

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.[3] The book was released through Mariner Books August 2023. A Council of Dolls was longlisted for the 2023 National Book Award for Fiction.[4][5]

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.[2]

Concept and creation

Author Mona Susan Power was guided by her family's own history with unwelcome government intervention into Native society and multigenerational experiences with Indian boarding schools. At times writing the novel was so emotional she would cry.[6][7][8] The book was written during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. The first draft was completed in four months following recovery from a broken arm.[9][10] She was completing copy-edits in 2022.[11]

A Council of Dolls was an expansion of an earlier story about dolls published in the Missouri Review called Naming Ceremony.[12][9] Naming Ceremony was runner-up for the 2020 Jeffrey E. Smith Editors’ Prize.[13][14]

Release

Power held a launch party on publication day 8 August 2023 at the Birchbark Books event space Birchbark Bizhew in Minneapolis, Minnesota.[15]

Reception

Kirkus Reviews panned the book as "occasionally moving" but "steeped a little bit too long in sentimentality."[16] 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.[17]

The novel was featured on New Yorkers Best Books of 2023 and Good Housekeeping recommended A Council of Dolls as part of their "feel-good reads."[18][19]

References

  1. ↑ Young, Holly (8 August 2023). "Holly Young's post, A quick moment to relish..." Facebook. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 "A Council of Dolls by Mona Susan Power". HarperCollins. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  3. ↑ "About". Mona Susan Power.
  4. ↑ "National Book Awards Longlist 2023". The Washington Post. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  5. ↑ "A Council of Dolls". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  6. ↑ "Book offers history through children's eyes". ICT News. 18 August 2023. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  7. ↑ Memmott, Carol (3 August 2023). "Review: Minneapolis writer explores the inanimate friends who save us in 'A Council of Dolls'". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  8. ↑ Nelson, Kate (20 November 2023). "Author Mona Susan Power Comes in From the Cold". The Cut. New York Magazine. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  9. 1 2 "Author of "A Council of Dolls" joins WCCO Saturday Morning's". CBS News Minnesota. CBS Broadcasting Inc. 19 August 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  10. ↑ Greenblatt, Leah (7 August 2023). "After a Long and Painful Absence, Writing Her Way Home Again". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  11. ↑ "In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—Mona Susan Power". WaterStone Review. 12 September 2022. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  12. ↑ "A Council of Dolls Reading Group Kit" (PDF). HarperCollins. Mariner Books. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  13. ↑ Geger, Annalisa; Jensen, Kaitlyn (22 December 2023). "An Interview with Mona Susan Power". The Missouri Review. University of Missouri. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  14. ↑ Power, Mona Susan (18 April 2023). "Naming Ceremony". The Missouri Review. Curators of the University of Missouri. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  15. ↑ "Mona Susan Power: A Council of Dolls Publication Celebration". Eventbrite. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  16. ↑ "A COUNCIL OF DOLLS | Kirkus Reviews". Kirkus Reviews. 8 June 2023.
  17. ↑ Letosky, Rachel (August 2023). "A Council of Dolls". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  18. ↑ Schumer, Lizz (2 November 2023). "All of Our Feel-Good Book Club Reviews". Good Housekeeping. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  19. ↑ "Celebrate the holidays with an Indigenous gift guide". ICT News. The Arena Group. 6 December 2023. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
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