A Council of Dolls

A Novel

By: Mona Susan Power

Narrated by: Isabella Star LaBlanc

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…

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.

©2023 Mona Susan Power (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers

Beautiful, Imaginative, and Heavy

This book was incredibly written and read. I could see exactly what was happening. I will warn that this book is fun but it is heavy. I did cry upon reflection but still greatly recommend.

Wooyake washte

Loved everything about this one. Felt the power of this book weave through my world through the whole listen

Outstanding!

The writing is superb. The story is written in a unique way with many twists. The characters are interesting and deep.

Women Medicine

To begin, I rarely write reviews. This is a wonderfully inspiring and yet heart wrenching and simultaneously heart healing book! If you're heart aches for itself, for this world, sees the universe as a whole and the energy of spirit that moves around inside it then you want to read this book. I find it hard to be a white woman filled with these spirit senses. I think pretty much all woman spirits (meaning regardless of what your body's sexual organ was born as) can feel this energy. As such, we feel the suffering. We receive suffering. We try to deal with how this suffering has come to us. We're constantly striving to heal this suffering both inside and outside of ourselves. This book showed me the universe offers the medicine for healing. I've often found it difficult to talk to mental health professionals because once you speak of things they cannot see (visions, ghosts, predictive dreams) they believe you have a condition, a psychosis of some sort. (Not that I was diagnosed with such but it's just the comments and looks you get if you try to share these emotions and thoughts with a world who finds it socially unacceptable.) So you stop talking from your heart and can't seem to find healing. The Native American women in the story talked it out with true belief and received universal and ancestral insight and healing. I kept hearing the words "Women Medicine" as I was sobbing through the Author's closing remarks. What better medicine than love from the generations of women that came before you! I think all us woman have that if we just find a way to hear it like Jessie did with her Council of Dolls. I am so grateful to Mona Susan Power for creating and sharing this story. I do not feel alone or crazy seeking, exploring, or just simply believing in my Woman Medicine.

Captivating

A captivating story based on much of the author’s own family history- uniquely told through the eyes of the precious “toys” who provided comfort and companionship for the generations of young girls surviving cultural genocide

Wonderful story with lots of facts thrown in

The narrator didn’t have a good range of voices so was often difficult to know which character was speaking.

The dolls heal

Terribly depressing trauma affecting multiple generations of native American Indians, with healing by dolls who carry the generational word of truth.

The doll, Winona. My daughter has the same doll. Winona. She was gifted to my daughter, Hinukmani by your mother.

This story was very captivating. I couldn't stop listening. I remember hearing stories about the boarding schools from my Grandmother, Anne Winneshiek. The story of the mom and her rage was definitely relatable, I was in tears at times. I definitely have to buy the book and gift it to my sister.

Healing generational trauma

Such a beautiful way to tell the stories of trauma and healing. Our innocent “toys” as witness and absorption of trauma. It was beautifully woven with the history of the Lakota and Dakota people in both the wonderful and the tragic.

Valuable Perspective, told with gentleness

This is an important book, providing a unique window on generations of Native American girls through the experience of their dolls.