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A review by corinnekeener
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
5.0
Machado is well known from her book of short stories Her Body and Other Parties for exploring fairy tales, sex, and an atmosphere of general weirdness in her work. But with her memoir, In the Dream House, Machado really explodes genre, exploring mythological, literary, fairy tale tropes, and at one point actual film criticism to highlight the warning signs of abuse, and the cycles of euphoric highs and devastating lows in her relationship with an ex-girlfriend.
I don't often praise the perspective choice of addressing the reader as "you," but here it's effective as both a letter to the writer's former self, and placing the reader firmly in the position of the partner in this increasingly unstable relationship. Feeling love and loved, and feeling hurt and stuck. Knowing, but also not trying to make a fuss as the pot slowly begins to boil around you.
Late in high school and through to my mid-twenties I was in a mildly, emotionally abusive relationship. (Am I downplaying it here? Or do I generally overreact when I assert myself by calling it emotionally abusive? I still never can tell.) It was both painful and vindicating to read Machado's account. I recognized similar situations and resonated with both embarrassment at not having known better and the memory of fear of never being loved by anyone else. While I hope others don't have to experience these feelings or situations, it is also powerful knowing that you're not as alone as the person who was supposed to love you made you feel.
I don't often praise the perspective choice of addressing the reader as "you," but here it's effective as both a letter to the writer's former self, and placing the reader firmly in the position of the partner in this increasingly unstable relationship. Feeling love and loved, and feeling hurt and stuck. Knowing, but also not trying to make a fuss as the pot slowly begins to boil around you.
Late in high school and through to my mid-twenties I was in a mildly, emotionally abusive relationship. (Am I downplaying it here? Or do I generally overreact when I assert myself by calling it emotionally abusive? I still never can tell.) It was both painful and vindicating to read Machado's account. I recognized similar situations and resonated with both embarrassment at not having known better and the memory of fear of never being loved by anyone else. While I hope others don't have to experience these feelings or situations, it is also powerful knowing that you're not as alone as the person who was supposed to love you made you feel.