IN THE DREAM HOUSE A Memoir

Carmen Maria Machado's memoir of psychological abuse by a former girlfriend dissects their relationship from many perspectives, each described within the framework of a highly original metaphor (all of which the author claims are not metaphors). As she opens the doors on her experience, Machado's voice is soft and steady, simultaneously vulnerable and assured. Acclaimed for her masterful short stories, Machado and her then-girlfriend, referred to throughout as "the Woman from the Dream House," met during the author's studies at the Iowa Writers' Workshop. She breaks through the "archival silence" of women's accounts of abuse, particularly between queer women, by recording the insidious unraveling of her own relationship. Machado's sense-making framework alternates the use of fairy-tale storytelling, movies, and other elements with the heady emotional terrain of events from their first meeting onward. J.R.T. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine [Published: JANUARY 2020]