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A review by brunchbookclub
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
4.0
It's difficult for me to review this exquisite book because I have never read anything like it before. Simply, it’s a story about a relationship between two women but no relationship is ever simple. What unfolds with each turn of the page is a complex tale of love, passion, and abuse.
The book recounts Machado’s first relationship with a woman through different lenses. The constructs she creates are incredible and I'm disappointed with myself that some of them didn't quite land with me simply because I didn’t know the references or subject. The book itself is so beautifully multilayered and serves to create a complex narrative of interwoven reimaginings that only reinforces the difficulty of navigating the emotional turmoil of an abusive relationship.
And yet, this book is so much more than this too! The topic of abuse in same-sex relationships is rarely written about let alone examined and Machado does both exquisitely. Through building upon discourse already established and using examples of violence and murder in same-sex relationships, Machado begins to unpack the issues of gender, homophobia and mysogyny that have caused and maintained the social and legal exlusion of victims of domestic abuse in same-sex relationships.
I honestly, don't know how to truly write my thoughts and feelings on this book but this is a start. I highly recommend reading it. It will stay with me for a long time. I have some work to do and more reading to be getting on with because this is an issue that needs attention. Simply spectacular.
READ IT!
The book recounts Machado’s first relationship with a woman through different lenses. The constructs she creates are incredible and I'm disappointed with myself that some of them didn't quite land with me simply because I didn’t know the references or subject. The book itself is so beautifully multilayered and serves to create a complex narrative of interwoven reimaginings that only reinforces the difficulty of navigating the emotional turmoil of an abusive relationship.
And yet, this book is so much more than this too! The topic of abuse in same-sex relationships is rarely written about let alone examined and Machado does both exquisitely. Through building upon discourse already established and using examples of violence and murder in same-sex relationships, Machado begins to unpack the issues of gender, homophobia and mysogyny that have caused and maintained the social and legal exlusion of victims of domestic abuse in same-sex relationships.
I honestly, don't know how to truly write my thoughts and feelings on this book but this is a start. I highly recommend reading it. It will stay with me for a long time. I have some work to do and more reading to be getting on with because this is an issue that needs attention. Simply spectacular.
READ IT!