Diverse Reads Annotation: In the Dream House: A Memoir by Carmen Maria Machado

Author: Carmen Maria Machado

Title: In the Dream House: A Memoir

Genre(s): Nonfiction, Memoir

Publication Date: November 5, 2019

Number of Pages: 247

Geographical Setting: Bloomington, IN; Iowa; other cities across U.S.; physical and metaphorical Dream House

Time Period: Primarily 2000s/2010s, but also includes some moments from Machado's childhood

Plot Summary: Carmen Maria Machado's fiercely honest and imaginative memoir is a necessary account of domestic abuse and psychological trauma in lesbian relationships. Machado recounts her own experience as a queer woman in an abusive relationship while also shining light on the experiences of other queer women whose stories have long been ignored. 

Subject Headings:

Lesbians - United States - Biography

Abused lesbians - United States - Biography

Women authors, American 21st century - Biography

3 terms that best describe this book: Honest, powerful, imaginative

Appeal:

Setting/Frame: There are several settings throughout the book, but the most poignant one is the Dream House, which is both real and imagined. Each chapter begins with "Dream House as...," which provides a unique frame through which Machado tells her story. For example, one chapter is titled "Dream House as American Gothic" (p. 76). Here, Machado discusses the two necessary elements of gothic romance ('woman plus romance' and 'marrying a stranger') with examples of popular gothic stories (e.g., Rebecca), then looks to her past relationship. The story does not follow a linear path as it moves through these various frames, instead it jumps through time to look at Machado's past, queer history, and cultural representations of and assumptions about lesbian relationships and domestic abuse.

Language: Machado's language is crucial to the story, which is primarily told through a second person point of view. The use of the second person perspective adds a layer of intimacy and vulnerability that evokes a visceral response from the reader. When Machado writes about the Dream House and the Woman in the Dream House, she uses this second person perspective. When she writes as her present self, reflects on her childhood, and discusses queer history, she uses the first person perspective. Throughout the story, Machado's language shifts from poetic and descriptive to raw and direct to scholarly and analytical.

Characters: There are several characters throughout the story, including Machado, her roommates, the Woman in the Dream House, the reader, and more. Machado even discusses the representation and characterization of queer people in media and culture, writing:

"We deserve to have our wrongdoing represented as much as our heroism, because when we refuse wrongdoing as a possibility for a group of people, we refuse their humanity. That is to say, queers—real-life ones—do not deserve representation, protection, and rights because they are morally pure or upright as a people. They deserve those things because they are human beings, and that is enough" (p. 47).

3 Relevant Nonfiction Works and Authors:

Love Is An Ex-Country by Randa Jarrar

"Queer. Muslim. Arab American. A proudly Fat woman. Randa Jarrar is all of these things. In this provocative memoir of a cross-country road trip, she explores how to claim joy in an unraveling and hostile America" (Novelist).

Common Appeals: Compelling, psychic trauma, LGBTQIA+ 

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

"The iCarly and Sam & Cat star, after her controlling mother dies, gets the help she needs to overcome eating disorders, addiction and unhealthy relationships--and finally decides what she really wants for the first time in her life" (Novelist).

Common Appeals: Candid, emotional abuse, powerful 

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

"The Japanese Breakfast indie pop star presents a full-length account of her viral New Yorker essay to share poignant reflections on her experiences of growing up Korean-American, becoming a professional musician and caring for her terminally ill mother" (Novelist).

Common Appeals: Lyrical, honest, intimate

3 Relevant Fiction Works and Authors:

Her Body and Other Parties: Stories by Carmen Maria Machado

"Contains short stories about the realities of women's lives and the violence visited upon their bodies" (Novelist).

Common Appeals: Compelling, thought-provoking, women 

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

"A reimagining of the classic gothic suspense novel follows the experiences of a courageous socialite in 1950s Mexico who is drawn into the treacherous secrets of an isolated mansion" (Novelist).

Common Appeals: Compelling, atmospheric, gothic

Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield

"A haunting novel about a couple dealing with the aftermath of a disastrous deep-sea mission" (Novelist).

Common Appeals: Compelling, psychic trauma, LGBTQIA+