Mona Susan Power’s newest novel, A Council of Dolls, traces the echoing damage of American Indian boarding schools through three generations of women—and their dolls.

In a narrative moving backwards in time, Power explores generational trauma and how the actions of parents impact their children. The book follows three young girls: Sissy in mid-century Chicago, her mother Lillian in 1925 on ancestral Dakota lands, and Cora, Lillian’s mother and Sissy’s grandmother, in the aftermath of the Indian Wars in the late 1800s.

A Council of Dolls is nominated for a Minnesota Book Award. Mona joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about her experience writing this historical book.