From the bestselling author of Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk comes a novel about Hollywood, the cost of stardom, and selfless second acts, inspired by an extraordinary true story.
Chicago, 1916. Doreen O’Dare is fourteen years old when she hops a Hollywood-bound train with her beloved Irish grandmother. Within a decade, her trademark bob and insouciant charm make her the preeminent movie flapper of the Jazz Age. But her success story masks one of relentless ambition, tragedy, and the secrets of a dangerous marriage.
Her professional life in flux, Doreen trades one dream for another. She pours her wealth and creative energy into a singular achievement: the construction of a one-ton miniature Fairy Castle, the likes of which the world has never seen. So begins Doreen’s public tour to lift the nation’s spirits during the Great Depression—and a personal journey worth remembering.
A sweeping journey from the dawn of the motion picture era through turbulent twentieth-century America, From Dust to Stardust is a breathtaking novel about one determined woman navigating change, challenging the price of fame, and sharing the gift of real magic.
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“Kathleen Rooney takes us on a wild romp through the Jazz Age of Hollywood as she brings to life one of the most unforgettable icons of that era. In this vivid fictional retelling of the life of Colleen Moore?the original flapper of silent films?she reminds us that the line between fantasy and reality is gossamer and that even the strongest of women need their dreams.”
— Melanie Benjamin, New York Times bestselling author
“If you love unexplored history; vibrant, strong women; and the glamour and grit of early Hollywood, you will adore this story…a Depression-era Cinderella story that leaves its mark.”
— Amy Harmon, author of The Unknown Beloved“Kathleen Rooney takes us on a wild romp through the Jazz Age of Hollywood as she brings to life one of the most unforgettable icons of that era. In this vivid fictional retelling of the life of Colleen Moore―the original flapper of silent films―she reminds us that the line between fantasy and reality is gossamer and that even the strongest of women need their dreams.”
— Melanie Benjamin, New York Times bestselling authorBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Kathleen Rooney is a founding editor of Rose Metal Press, an indie nonprofit publisher, and lives in Chicago, where she appeared on New City Lit’s list of “Lit 50 15: Who Really Books in Chicago.” Her works include poetry and nonfiction, as well as the novel O, Democracy! Her art-modeling memoir Live Nude Girl: My Life as an Object was published by University of Arkansas Press. Reading with Oprah: The Book Club That Changed America was her first book. Other work has appeared or is forthcoming in the New York Times Magazine, Allure, Salon, the Rumpus, and the Chicago Tribune.
Sebastian York is an audiobook narrator whose readings include Twisted Perfection by Abbi Glines and Beautiful Bombshell by Christina Lauren, among others.