A Council of Dolls

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains discussion of racism, religious discrimination, emotional abuse, physical abuse, child abuse, sexual content, sexual violence and harassment, bullying, child sexual abuse, graphic violence, illness, and death.

It is Chicago in the 1960s. Sissy, who was born in 1961 and whose given name is Lillian, the same as her mother, lives with her mother and father, Cornelius, whom she calls Mama and Dad. Lillian is from North Dakota and of Dakhóta heritage. Cornelius is from South Dakota and of Lakhóta heritage. Sissy nicknames her father Kneeling Corn in her mind, based on the sound when she reverses the first two syllables of Cornelius. She envisions him kneeling on corn because it’s safer down on the ground than if he were to stand up and face Lillian, who has a temper. Lillian is angry about prejudice and injustice against Indigenous people, for one thing. She also gets angry at Cornelius and Sissy and at times becomes verbally and physically abusive toward both of them.

When Sissy was four years old, she heard a newscast about Richard Speck’s killing spree; it described how one woman survived by hiding under a bed. Sissy learned to hide under the bed when Lillian is angry and has done so ever since.