Rust & Stardust: A Novel

T. Greenwood's depiction of the real-life kidnapping and molestation of eleven-year-old Sally Horner in 1948 is as disturbing as you might expect. The story is revealed in third-person through the point-of-view characters closest to Sally and by Sally herself. At first, I found the alternating chapter titles of the characters annoying but realized this was a quick way to put the reader in the mind of the right character without confusion. I began to brace myself though when I reached the chapters entitled Sally. These are particularly grim as Sally learns to survive her ordeal by remembering the comforts of home and by anticipating her captor's moves, as every key in the lock, every drunken song means the return of a monster.The most heart-wrenching scenes are the times Sally tries to enlist help from those with whom she is allowed limited contact. Her captor, Frank La Salle moves her from rooming house to dive to trailer park, from Maryland to Texas and finally California to evade detection. In every new location, she is forced to call La Salle her father and to learn a different backstory for every identity she is forced to adopt. Meanwhile, her physically disabled mother, older sister, and brother-in-law hold on to every shred of evidence proving that she is alive somewhere and will come back to them.The story is fascinating but bleak. The chapters written from Sally's viewpoint, thankfully spare the readers the graphic details, but not the descriptions of the emotional toll of the predator's actions on Sally. On several occasions, Sally's torment could have ended had people who noticed signs of abuse acted early enough on their instincts. The rare bright spots were the tentative relationships Sally formed with a teacher/nun, a neighbor, a girl her age, and a dog.Sally's story although gut-wrenching is a worthwhile read. The book lingers in your mind. If only to make people more sensitive and able to identify cries of help from the vulnerable it provides a valuable public service. I recommend this book to true crime fans and those who are responsible for children. This is not a book for those who are easily depressed

I love T. Greenwood and have a number of her books, but this one seemed depressing and predictable. Her stories usually have an uplifting wholesomeness and realness to them, but this one dove into the depths of barren sadness and I couldn't pull myself back out despitethe interesting midcentury backdrop. I had to put it down with about 6 pages left because it was too much for me. I may come back to it to finish the last of it, but perhaps not. I understand that life isn't all sunshine and rainbows, but the tone of this story never changed throughout; it almost seemed hollow and one-noted. She also could have provided more insightful underlying subplots and richer character development and less unnecessary and wordy description.

This was my first read by T. Greenwood but it won’t be my last. This was a sad story, but I love the way she writes. The story moved and I was able to read it without getting irritated by it moving too slow or a lot of wordiness. It was an easy but sad read.

First of all, the poor girl's mother just let her daughter go with a stranger! After that the whole story became tedious and predictable. I did not finish the book .

This book amazing. I couldn't put it down! There were parts that were difficult to read on though I knew that going in but the offer was an amazing story teller, this book was just great