The Book Review of
“In the Dream House“, by Carmen Maria Machado
In the process of recounting her experience in an abusive lesbian relationship, the author occasionally cites a folklore motif in the footnote, suggesting a particular episode of her story has overlap with a common folkloric paradigm. The book is an authentic account of the author’s real-life experience in a chronological flow, yet from time to time in the margin of the narration it strays into the mystical kingdoms of fairy tales.
The injection of folklore motifs makes the autobiographic story read transpersonal. Folklores are unrealistic, loaded with fantastical elements (fairies, witches, mystic beasts, et al.), yet also hyperrealistic: their allusions to social taboos and moral values are such truthful reflections of real life that they are often used as the first guide into adult society for the young and innocent. The repeated digressions to folkloric references add a surreal feeling to the retelling of a realistic past, and imply this personal story has myriad dimensions of universality.
