A Council of Dolls by Mona Susan Power

I have a very mixed review of this book. It's a powerful work of art that tells a riveting story of three Indigenous females (Lakota) in various different time periods and their attachments to their "dolls." 
    Part one brought me to my knees. I cried multiple times while reading this section. I felt so despondent for the main character as she had a difficult relationship with her mother. One that was both abusive and loving at the same time. I'm no expert, but her mother needed some mental health help. I almost stopped reading the book entirely over what this young lady had to endure. This part alone gets a 5 out of 5 rating from me. I want to know more about what happened to this child after what happened to her mother. 
    Part two would receive a 4.5 rating for me. I couldn't get a mental picture as I was reading. I'm referring to a setting. The story is horrific and boarding schools tore families apart. I just needed more details in this section to develop a mental image of what I was reading. This book was not an Audible purchase, but rather a Kindle download. My ancient Kindle is over tens years old, so I assume there might have been some images in the download, but my technology did not have those capabilities. This author has a talent for story weaving in-between each girl that is unmatched. I hope this book makes our school book club list for this upcoming year. My favorite coworker (she is Native) grew up attending a boarding school. She has told me numerous stories, memories, and lessons that the nuns taught her. This book sounds like one of the schools she attended as a child. 
    I do not have an opinion or rating on the remainder of the book. It's a brutal story that has factual details of what Indigenous people went through during different time periods.  This would be an amazing book to end up as a movie. I think my students would be able to identify with this although I would only read it with high schoolers. Overall, I this book rates a 4.9. I would highly recommend this book and this author. I will be looking to see what else she has written. 
    
    

Side Note: My husband often talks about not knowing his language and how it was taken from his people. I think this book really helped me understand at an even deeper level of what he describes. He can remember his great grandparents being fluent, but no one else in the family being able to speak (Cherokee) to them other than elders in the same age range. His rural school didn't offer classes, so he never got to learn.

 

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