A Council of Dolls

LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD The long-awaited, profoundly moving, and unforgettable new work of historical fiction from PEN Award–winning Native American author Mona Susan Power, a powerful family saga 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 a poignant story of cultural survival and 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