A counsel of dolls is the moving story of 3 generations of Yanktonai Dakota women, following their stories as told by the dolls who stood by them. We see their lives and the affects of Indian boarding schools in the early 1900s as well as the lasting impact that had on each woman. While I loved this story and the honesty with which it was told… the last section could have used some more editing. Honestly I skimmed the ending because it was a little much. I wish present day was intertwined with the girls and their dolls more throughout, and the last chapter felt a little in your face with the themes. However, if you like books like The Nickel boys, where you are forced to see the horrors of the country, then this is a good one for you.

Three generations of Dakota women...and their dolls. Each connected to the spirits of their ancestors through the dolls that brought them comfort and strength through the worst moments of their lives. Heartbreaking and powerful - definitely a story that needed to be told.

I really lost myself in this book. I felt all the characters were a part of my life and that I felt what they were feeling and their experiences were very real.

My mind enjoyed jumping between all three characters and the way she used the complexity of visions was perfect. I definitely pick up and read.

A Council of Dolls
Mona Susan Power
Pub Date: August 8, 2023
Harper Collins
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
* Native Americans * Historical Fiction
This novel spans three generations of Yanktonai Dakota women from the 19th Century to current day.
This book blew me away. The dolls were intriguing and I still think of them. I highly recommend the reading of this novel. It includes elements of historical fiction and horrors of real life.
This book was intense and hard to read at times. Don’t miss the authors notes.
5 stars

ARC was provided by NetGalley and Mariner Books in exchange for an honest review.

This review is being published before the release date (December 1, 2023)


Content/Trigger Warnings: Toxic/abusive relationship, child abuse/neglect, brief mentions of murder, loss of siblings (in the past), grief, Residential Schools, talk of the American Frontier Wars (also known as American Indian Wars), talk of colonization, mentions financial hardships, brief mentions of divorce, scene of implied adultery/infidelity, blood, brief mentions of bigamy, talk of alcoholism, scene of implied trauma/PTSD, talk of continued genocide of Native/Indigenous people, talk of death, sexual harassment, bullying (in the past), mentions of MMIWG2S, mentions pedophilia & sexual abuse (in the past), death of an infant (in the past), mentions of racism, on page death of a parent, and potentially more!


Whew, I don't know where to begin with this book. First, please use caution and make sure you're in a good headspace when reading this book. There are a lot of content/trigger warnings throughout this entire book. So please take care of yourselves while reading. Secondly, I don't even know how to describe a book that describes the generational trauma that's laced through Native/Indigenous communities. Following three generations of daughters, we move backward in time starting with Sissy, then her mother Lillian, and finally moving to her grandmother, Cora's perspective where we see the "Indian Wars" and the beginning of Residential School start. We'll follow each of their stories along with a special doll for each daughter, acting as a guide, giving advice, and being a protector to them. Honestly, I'm completely stunned and blown away. I cried a lot reading this book because it's so emotional and harrowing especially if you're a Native reader like myself. Growing up Native, you're told the stories about the horrors of the Residential Schools, you listen to the wisdom from your elders of the things they experienced with the whole colonization of Turtle Island, and this book just beautifully laces all of that into one book. Overall, I'm just completely overwhelmed by this book, incredibly emotional over it, and it's really hard for me to even write a review for a book that I think everyone should just read without knowing too much about. Truly a wonderful, powerfully written book that everyone should pick up.


All thoughts, feelings, experiences, and opinions are honest and my own.

A very insightful read! I love the way the author chose to tell the story of this generation of Native American women and what their lives were like. It had it's share of loss and tragedy, but it was also honest and revealing of the various time periods and what Natives were going through at the time. Thoroughly enjoyed it!

**Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved reading this story. I was surprised at how quickly it sucked me in the plot. I loved reading about the Dakota tribe and the indigenous culture. The few drips of words from their language was a nice touch. This was a beautifully written book. I really enjoyed it and I can't wait to tell others about it.

This beautiful book tells the story of three generations of a Dakota family moving back through time from the 1800s to present. Topics include the invasion of the white man, colonization through Indian schools and the detrimental effect on a whole generation. There's also a doll....therein lies the beauty of the story, as she is their guide, friend and representative of indigenous tradition and faith. I loved the book, it broke my heart and was so well written.

Thank you #netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

A Council of Dolls is an amazing story about 3 generations of women—told through the history of their dolls. This story was moving and heartbreaking and I felt myself tearing up numerous times. My mother in law was in a boarding school so reading the part about an “Indian school” really hit home for me in regards to the stories my mother in law has graciously shared with me. This book hit the hard spots and was done beautifully!

If you’re interested in a book that tells the story of Native Americans, this is perfect. So creative, using dolls set in different eras to reflect the stories of their times. I learned a lot about the heartbreaking sadness that happened to these people groups. But I also loved the idea of dolls reaching the hearts of their owners and touching their lives. Do you not remember a doll? I know I have a “Jennie June” china doll that brings me memories of my grandmother. The plot may seem a little odd when at the end the protagonist is a writer/professor who unpacks the trunk of memories and realizes their historical relevance. I am grateful she had a friend who helped her walk through her thoughts and memories. And it’s a bit hard to gather the historical timeline until the end. But after saying all that, I thought that the book rang true, added historical insights, and is a very worthwhile and captivating read.

Thanks to NetGalley, Mariner Books/Harper Collins for the advance review copy.

I think the theme of this years reading should just be "death to the colonizers."

This book tells the story of one Dakota family through 3 generations of daughters moving back through time from recent memory to the laters 1800s, and the effect that the invasion of white frontiersman and indian schools changed their lives and huet their people. Each daughter also has the company of one special doll, which acts almost as a guide and support to the child, and how i am describing it sound hokey but it is actually a little piece of childhood magic and tradition.

This book blew me away. I wouldnt be surprised to see this as required reading lists in the future- it is beautiful and heartbreaking in its simiplicity and spins the history and the story so well...highly recommend.

Thank you netgalley for letting me read this ARC!

The book tells three different stories about three girls who have dolls that have helped them navigate difficult times. Sissy had a doll named Ethel. Ethel helps Sissy goes through a relationship with her mother. Lillian with the help of her sister Blanche and her doll Mae go through abuse with the nuns at “Indian School.” Cora’s doll Winona was burned by the nuns at her school but Winona’s spirits have followed her around.

“The Council of Dolls” is a good read and its represents relationships with these three dolls in three different stories. In addition, how they help their owners.

Thanks to Mariner Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in order for a review.

A Council of Dolls, by Mona Susan Powers

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy of this book.

This tender, heart-rending novel of three generations of Native American girls from North Dakota shows the long-lasting trauma of the children’s being removed from their families to be educated as U.S. “citizens,” trying to erase their traditions and beliefs, often brutally.

Divided into four parts, it begins with the youngest in the family, “Sissy – 1960s” and goes backwards in time to “Lillian – 1930s” and “Cora – 1900s.” The last section focuses again on Sissy, in the 2010s.

Each young girl has a treasured doll in whom she confides and who provides comfort and counsel, because yes, these dolls can communicate with their girls, often helping them avoid physical if not mental injury.

Going backwards in time gives the story layers and depth. We first see the effects of their experiences, and then learn the causes, what shaped them into the women they became.

Each part is written in the first person, but the initial one is in a short period of 1969, told in the child’s voice, which is affecting and effective. In the later sections the narrators are older, recounting their experiences with some insight. All have a lyrical, mystical quality, as the dolls try to explain and advise the girls on their experiences in the strange, threatening world of the boarding schools.

The last and longest part, where Sissy appears as a 50-year-old woman, seems more forced. She is a writer, and on re-discovering the actual dolls, begins writing their stories as they dictate them to her, which strains even willing suspension of disbelief. There is almost too much emotional insight and growth in a condensed period, and this doesn’t have the impact or verity of the earlier stories.

Several times in the book, the author makes the point that her heritage, and that of her characters, are both Dakhota and Lakhota, using words from both languages. It would have been helpful to have a glossary and pronunciation guide in order to appreciate the subtleties and nuances she felt were important.

Despite this, the book is a loving look at a national trauma often overlooked, and is well worth reading. In topic, voice, and literary style, it would make an excellent book club choice.

This was such a good book. Learning about the history of the Indian Boarding schools. It also talks about the generational trauma that these schools impacted on the families. Learning more about indigenous life was so interesting but also so sad.

A Council of Dolls by Mona Susan Power is a four-part multigenerational story that tells the story of the traumas and hardships faced by Sioux women all belonging to the same family (daughter, mother, grandmother). Each section follows one generation through her respective tumultuous childhood and each woman, through her girlhood, is accompanied by a doll that serves as a shield and a confidant through pivotal moments. In the author's note, Mona Susan Power explains that the stories, though marketed as "Fiction", are largely based in true accounts from her own family members and from first-hand accounts of tribe members' experiences during the respective time periods. The book touches on a number of the atrocities that Native Americans faced over the course of American history, and includes the forced assimilation and "reformation" in schools like the Carlisle Indian Industrial School and massacres of the Sioux tribes by the U.S. Army. The final section crescendos in a literal council of dolls. We learn that it has been the youngest member of the matriline piecing together stories from her ancestors through the memories the dolls have shared with her. In this final section, the tone and the language fell a little apart for me. While it followed the same characters and narratives, something about the narration felt different, and it was a bit jarring.

Though ultimately a story about healing through speaking our truths and leaning on the strength of our ancestors, A Council of Dolls is heavy. There are depictions of child neglect and abuse and recollected racist, prejudiced, and often deeply traumatic events at the hands of white people. I found myself simultaneously tearing through each of these stories but also needing to occasionally stop and take a breath. Nonetheless, I think the American educational system has largely failed the vast majority of students in painting accurate portrayals of the ways in which the "founders" (e.g. colonists) of the U.S. tortured and exploited Native Americans, and to this end, I think A Council of Dolls should undoubtedly go into a catalog of novels that reflect this time period in a more accurate light.

Thank you to Mona Susan Power, Mariner Books, and Netgalley for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This is an intense book about the likes and horrors that Native American children have gone through. It was a challenging read, but very important.

This book is well-written. It includes elements of historical fiction and a bit of real life horror. The role of the dolls in these women's lives was the most thought-provoking aspect of the novel. It added a bit of a fantasy element to the story. I wondered what the author's intention was. The dolls seem to be symbolic in addition to invisible friends for the girls. They were also silent, supposedly inanimate witnesses to what the young women experienced. The parts of the story told from the dolls' POV were especially intriguing. I enjoyed the section about how the Shirley Temple doll was made, and the doll was presented as self-aware.
The author wove mystery and symbolism around the dolls without being blatant. She left readers room to make their own interpretations. I really enjoyed and appreciated that. The book is also full of interesting philosophical statements.
This book is intense and hard to read in places. I took a break for a couple of days because the story became very dark and depressing. Of course, this is a heavy topic, and it is certainly not meant to be taken lightly. I found this to be an intellectual read.
The author's note outlined some of the creative liberties taken in the novel. Overall, a well-written, engaging book.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.