Women's Prize Mini Reviews - Art Cure by Daisy Fancourt and Dominion by Addie Citchens
Author: Daisy Fancourt
Rating: 4 stars / 5 stars
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Favorite Quote: “In the end, successful artists are talented survivors. But I’m not sure how much longer they can survive in the face of these challenges and, by extension, how much longer we will have enough artists in our communities to lead the activities that are so beneficial to us all. And there’s also one final mistake we’re making, which is completely removing the foundations of the entire arts sector from under our feet.” Fancourt, Daisy. Art Cure: The Science of How the Arts Saves Lives. Celadon Books, 2025, pg. 227.
Review: This book discusses how the arts (broadly interpreted - visual art, music, literature, etc.) aid in health, healing, and building a more cohesive society.
This book is absolutely fascinating. It breaks down different parts of the brain and different experiences that can be targeted by arts experiences, either art or experiencing art. Based on studies and anecdotes, it makes the argument that the arts are a critical part of the public health framework and should be treated as such. It was also written in such a way that, although Fancourt is a brilliant medical expert, a lay person can largely understand the narrative that is being woven.
About that Quote: I almost chose a quote about everyone being artists, because I believe that sentiment too. But this particular quote speaks to something I believe more than almost anything - that the humanities are dying, and that with that death will come catastrophic results for society. Write. Draw. Act. Go to plays and art shows and opera performances. Save the humanities. Because saving the humanities is critical to saving humanity.
Title: Dominion
Author: Addie Citchens
Rating: 2.75 / 5 stars
Favorite Quote: “This boy feral, I thought, wild. And though I felt bad for thinking it, I also couldn’t help but know that whatever he;d done, they’d manage to blame me. They always blamed the mother.” Citchens, Addie. Dominion. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2025, pg. 122.
Review: This is a multi-POV novel that centers around the beloved son/football star/son of the local, highly-esteemed pastor, and his ultimate downward spiral, including [SPOILER ALERT] murder, sexual assault, a drug overdose, and ultimately, his death (as a Black teenager) by being shot by a white man accusing him of breaking into his house with ill-intent towards his daughter. It’s a study of race, privilege, and gender.
The writing in this book, as is so often true of Women’s Prize nominees, is cutting and lyrical. The book is propulsive, the characters are flawed and interesting. And yet -
The thing that just doesn’t seem to work for this book is how often the plot is propelled by convenience. The first person to die just happens to witness something he shouldn’t. The person who helps hide the body (ultimately the second dead body by my count) just happens to be the sibling of one of the female main characters, Diamond. When she and Wonder (the MC) run away and he ODs, they just happen to run into people who have drugs. And ultimately, the house he enters just happens to be inhabited by a man with a gun.
Each incident itself is well-written, but again, it just all seems so…convenient.
About that Quote: Other than Diamond, the main female voice in the book is Wonder’s mother, Priscilla. Characterized by her own substance use and the background role she plays in the lives of her husband and sons, by the end [SPOILER ALERT], she ultimately makes a stand and reclaims her independence. But, this quote, before that happens, exemplifies what the reader has seen throughout the novel - the gendered dynamics, sure, but also the way in which the men are not often above reproach, but that they often are because the blame falls on the women around them.
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