The Silver Star: A Novel
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Glass Castle and Hang the Moon, Jeannette Walls’s gripping novel "transports us with her powerful storytelling...contemplates the extraordinary bravery needed to confront real-life demons in a world where the hardest thing to do may be to not run away" (O, The Oprah Magazine).
It is 1970 in a small town in California. “Bean” Holladay is twelve and her sister, Liz, is fifteen when their artistic mother, Charlotte, takes off to find herself, leaving her girls enough money to last a month or two. When Bean returns from school one day and sees a police car outside the house, she and Liz decide to take the bus to Virginia, where their widowed Uncle Tinsley lives in the decaying mansion that’s been in Charlotte’s family for generations.
An impetuous optimist, Bean soon discovers who her father was, and hears stories about why their mother left Virginia in the first place. Money is tight, and the sisters start babysitting and doing office work for Jerry Maddox, foreman of the mill in town, who bullies his workers, his tenants, his children, and his wife. Liz is whip-smart—an inventor of word games, reader of Edgar Allan Poe, nonconformist. But when school starts in the fall, it’s Bean who easily adjusts, and Liz who becomes increasingly withdrawn. And then something happens to Liz in the car with Maddox.
Jeannette Walls has written a deeply moving novel about triumph over adversity and about people who find a way to love each other and the world, despite its flaws and injustices.
It is 1970 in a small town in California. “Bean” Holladay is twelve and her sister, Liz, is fifteen when their artistic mother, Charlotte, takes off to find herself, leaving her girls enough money to last a month or two. When Bean returns from school one day and sees a police car outside the house, she and Liz decide to take the bus to Virginia, where their widowed Uncle Tinsley lives in the decaying mansion that’s been in Charlotte’s family for generations.
An impetuous optimist, Bean soon discovers who her father was, and hears stories about why their mother left Virginia in the first place. Money is tight, and the sisters start babysitting and doing office work for Jerry Maddox, foreman of the mill in town, who bullies his workers, his tenants, his children, and his wife. Liz is whip-smart—an inventor of word games, reader of Edgar Allan Poe, nonconformist. But when school starts in the fall, it’s Bean who easily adjusts, and Liz who becomes increasingly withdrawn. And then something happens to Liz in the car with Maddox.
Jeannette Walls has written a deeply moving novel about triumph over adversity and about people who find a way to love each other and the world, despite its flaws and injustices.
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Community Reviews
I must be one of the few people who did not just absolutely Jeannette Walls' memoir, The Glass Castle. I thought it was just ok and therefore, I didn't have huge expectations for her fictional book, The Silver Star. This was a quick, quirky, coming of age story, really more YA but I liked it. You can definitely see Walls' own influence in this crazy dysfunctional family. It is 1970 in a small town in CA when artistic mother Charlotte leaves her young girls for weeks at a time while she goes off to "find herself." This sets the stage for the girls to travel to Virginia to find their uncle Tinsley and discover the real story about why their mom ever left the small town to begin with. I really liked 12 year old Bean and Uncle Tinsley. Bean was definitely a gusty girl who stood up for what she believed in, even when that was not popular. And Tinsley was this eccentric uncle living in the decaying old family house (complete with a "bird wing"). When the girls first arrived on Tinsley's front porch, I didn't like him. Who isn't going to let their sister's children come inside and instead let them sleep in the barn? But then I really softened about him and I think he needed the girls as much as they needed him. And yes, they moved into the main house. :) I liked how the extended family welcomed the girls into their lives. Several themes going on in the book-Maddox, the town bully, the integration of blacks and whites and the girls discovering really how strong they are. Good story about people who love despite the flaws and injustices they face.
I had come to expect the best and most wonderful writing from Ms. Walls, this is a let-down. Too simple, the plot keeps on hopping and leaves too many loose ends.
After reading a few of hers, she definitely seems like one of those writers that "writes what she knows." If she is going to continue writing, she should seek out some new life experiences. It's all beginning to sound the same.
Really wish I could give 3.5...I felt the story became really rushed towards the end. I was sort of disappointed. Quick read though.
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