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Carmen Maria Machado
Carmen Maria Machado is the author of Wastelands, a collection that explores themes of horror and the uncanny. Her work often blends genre fiction with sharp, insightful prose.
In the Dream House
Synopsis
Carmen Maria Machado recounts a difficult past relationship in this innovative memoir. She examines the psychological abuse she experienced, using different narrative tropes in each chapter to explore the events from various angles. Machado also reflects on her upbringing and challenges stereotypes about lesbian relationships, creating a powerful and unique look at abuse within the queer community.
Genres
Bisexual Book Awards (2019)Goodreads Choice Award (2019)Lambda Literary Award (2020)Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ Nonfiction (2020)Rathbones Folio Prize (2021)Reading Women Award (2020)Stonewall Book Award (2020)The Publishing Triangle Award (2020)Writers' Prize (2021)
Frequently asked questions
Is In the Dream House a true story?
Yes. In the Dream House is a memoir: Carmen Maria Machado recounts her own experience of psychological and emotional abuse in a same-sex relationship during her time at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, with the "Dream House" of the title being her former partner's real home in Bloomington, Indiana. Each chapter examines the relationship through a different narrative form (the haunted house, the road-trip movie, the bildungsroman) rather than a conventional chronological retelling.
What awards has In the Dream House won?
In the Dream House won the 2020 Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ Nonfiction and the 2021 Rathbones Folio Prize. It was also named a 2020 Stonewall Book Award-Barbara Gittings Literature Award Honor Book and was longlisted for the 2020 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction.