In the Dream House

In the Dream House is a memoir by Carmen Maria Machado. It was published on November 5, 2019, by Graywolf Press.[3][4][5][6][7][8]

In the Dream House
First edition cover
AuthorCarmen Maria Machado
Audio read byCarmen Maria Machado[1]
Cover artistAlex Eckman-Lawn (art)[2]
Kimberly Glyder (design)[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
SubjectDomestic violence
GenreMemoir
PublisherGraywolf Press
Publication date
November 5, 2019
Media typePrint (hardcover)
Pages264
ISBN978-1-64445-003-1
Websitecarmenmariamachado.com/in-the-dream-house

The book was awarded the 2021 Folio Prize[9] and the 2020 Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ Nonfiction.[10] It was also longlisted for the 2020 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction.[11]

Summary

The book details Machado's emotionally, mentally, and physically abusive relationship with another woman while studying for her MFA at the Iowa Writers' Workshop in Iowa City, Iowa. It is predominantly a second-person narrative, with Machado referring to her victimized self as "you".[12] Machado utilizes a different narrative trope for each chapter.[13] The author never directly names her abuser and only refers to her as "the woman in the dream house".

Plot summary

In the Dream House begins with Carmen Maria Machado's living situation in Iowa City prior to her meeting the Dream House woman. Carmen shares a small two-bedroom apartment with her roommates John and Laura.

In the first chapter, Machado reflects on her childhood years and tells a story about her time in grade school. Machado then elaborates on experiences in her childhood and environment while growing up. She goes on to discuss instances with her previous lovers, leading up to meeting and falling in love with "the woman in the dream house" who domestically abused her.

Main characters

Carmen Maria Machado: Machado is the person the text is centered on. The book is told from her perspective as she recounts her memories of her relationship.

The "woman in the dream house": This woman is Machado’s ex-girlfriend in the book. Throughout the work, the woman in the dream house abuses Machado; however, she is never directly named.

Val Howlett: Both Carmen Maria Machado and Val Howlett dated the woman who provoked the memoir In The Dream House. At first, the woman dated both Machado and Howlett. Eventually, the woman broke up with Howlett to pursue a monogamous relationship with Machado. After Machado and the "woman in the dream house" broke up, Machado got in touch with Howlett and the two later got married in 2017.

Reception

On the review aggregator website Book Marks, which assigns individual ratings to book reviews from mainstream literary critics, the book received a cumulative "Rave" rating based on 44 reviews: 32 "Rave" reviews and 12 "Positive" reviews.[14]

Kirkus Reviews gave the book a rave review, calling it a "fiercely honest, imaginatively written, and necessary memoir from one of our great young writers."[15] Similarly, Publishers Weekly gave the book a positive review, calling it "an affecting, chilling memoir about domestic abuse."[12] Parul Sehgal of The New York Times also praised the book, writing, "There is something anxious, and very intriguing, in the degree of experimentation in this memoir, in its elaborately titivated sentences, its thicket of citations."[16]

References
  1. In the Dream House (Audiobook) by Carmen Maria Machado. Retrieved December 29, 2019 – via Audible.
  2. "In the Dream House". Graywolf Press. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  3. Canfield, David (November 5, 2019). "How Carmen Maria Machado wrote the best memoir of the year". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  4. Reese, Hope (November 7, 2019). "'I Was Trapped Forever In This Present Tense': Carmen Maria Machado on Surviving Abuse". Longreads. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  5. Garcia-Navarro, Lulu (November 3, 2019). "In The 'Dream House,' Carmen Maria Machado Recounts Nightmares". NPR. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  6. Millares Young, Kristen (November 5, 2019). "Haunted by humiliation, Carmen Maria Machado breaks form to address domestic abuse". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  7. Carothers, Vera (November 7, 2019). "Down to the Marrow: An Interview with Carmen Maria Machado". Columbia Journal. Columbia University. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  8. Flood, Alison (March 24, 2021). "Carmen Maria Machado wins Rathbones Folio prize for queer abuse memoir". The Guardian. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  9. "2020 Winners". Lambda Literary Award. June 1, 2020. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  10. "2020 Andrew Carnegie Medals Longlist". Locus Online. October 1, 2019. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  11. "Nonfiction Book Review: In the Dream House: A Memoir by Carmen Maria Machado". Publishers Weekly. August 8, 2019. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  12. "In the Dream House | Graywolf Press". www.graywolfpress.org. Retrieved 2021-09-22.
  13. "Book Marks reviews of In The Dream House: A Memoir by Carmen Maria Machado". Book Marks. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  14. "In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado". Kirkus Reviews. July 8, 2019. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  15. Sehgal, Parul (October 29, 2019). "'In the Dream House' Recounts an Abusive Relationship Using Dozens of Genres". The New York Times. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
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