Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Grass Dancer | 1994 | Mona Susan Power | Buy |
| 2 | A Council of Dolls | 2024 | Mona Susan Power | Buy |
Mona Susan Power’s two novels are both rooted in the experiences of the Lakota Sioux people. The Grass Dancer (1994) is a multi-layered novel set on a North Dakota reservation, where the stories of several characters across different time periods interweave. The grass dance itself is a traditional Lakota ceremony, and the novel uses it as both a literal event and a structural device.
A Council of Dolls (2024) came 30 years after Power’s debut. The novel follows three generations of Native women, beginning in the boarding school era when Native children were forcibly separated from their families. Power’s prose carries a lyrical quality informed by oral storytelling traditions, and both novels treat Native spiritual experience as a living force rather than a historical artifact.