Our Shared Shelf discussion

In the Acknowledgments in the back of the book, author Kelly Barnhill writes:

I often say that I write my books by accident, and I almost always mean it. ... And then I, along with the rest of America, listened with horror and incandescent fury to the brave, stalwart testimony of [Dr.] Christine Blasey Ford, as she begged the Senate to reconsider their Supreme Court Justice nominee and make a different choice, and I decided to write a story about rage. And dragons. But mostly about rage.

Stories are funny things, though. We think we know what they will be when we begin, but they have a mind of their owns. ... I thought I was writing a story about rage in this novel, but it is more than that. In its heart, this is a story about memory, and trauma. It's about the damage we do to ourselves and our community when we refuse to talk about the past. It's about the memories that we don't understand and can't put into context, until we learn more about the world. And I thought I was writing about a bunch of fire-breathing, powerful women. And while those women are certainly in this book, it isn't about them. It's about a world upended by trauma and shamed into silence. And that silence grows, and becomes toxix, and infects every aspect of life. Perhaps this sounds familiar to you now - times being what they are.

This book is not based on [Dr.] Christina Blasey Ford, or her testimony, but it would not have existed without that women's bravery, her calm adherence to the facts, and her willingness to relive one of the worst moments of her life to help America save itself from itself. Her actions didn't work, but they still mattered. And maybe that is enough, in our fervent hope that the next generations gets it right.

What do you think about Barnhill's last notes? How does this sit with you after reading the book?