The Silver Star: A Novel

In 1970, Charlotte and her two girls, Liz and "Bean," are making it on their own. When Bean was just a baby, they fled the family compound (Mayfield) in Byler, Virginia, where Charlotte grew up as one of the Holladays, the backbone of the community. But the family ties are too tight for Charlotte, who wants a more free and easy existence. She is a star. A musician. With big dreams.

Unfortunately for the girls, Charlotte leaves them often to pursue her dream, sometimes for weeks at a time. But they have discovered how to fend for themselves, cooking chicken potpies for every dinner. At twelve (Bean) and fifteen (Liz), the girls are mature beyond their years in many ways, but naïve in other ways.

But when Charlotte leaves them for a couple of months that turns into more, and they can sense the officials zeroing in on them, they leave a note for their mom in their own special code, and catch a bus to Virginia.

Here is where their lives turn into something more than they had anticipated. Bean learns about her deceased father and meets his family; the girls discover that living in the South is quite different from California; and the culture shock is almost too much.

The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls is a poignant and beautifully crafted story that forms a deep emotional connection between the reader and its characters. Walls brings to life the journey of two sisters, Bean and Liz, with such empathy and authenticity that their struggles and triumphs feel personal. Through their resilience in the face of abandonment and adversity, Walls explores themes of family, identity, and justice, making the reader deeply invested in their fate. The characters' emotional depth and Walls' intimate storytelling leave a lasting impression, making it a truly moving read.

Like most other reviewers, I will preface my review by stating that The Glass Castle is one of my all-time favorite books. I try to pass my copy onto anyone who will take it. I was so thrilled with GC that I purchased her follow-up Half Broke Horses, which I also thoroughly enjoyed and lent to my mother to read. Somehow last month, I stumbled upon a review of a new Jeannette Walls book and I was very excited to get my copy. It's an easy read for sure and a quick one. Overall, I liked it. It had the same feel as GC (Liz and Bean vs Lori and Jeannette, carefree Mother) and as I started to read I was excited for the adventure I was about to take part in, however it ended up feeling like I had ridden the kiddie Dragon Roller Coaster rather than the 200ft drop mega coaster, if you get what I mean. Although there are strong similarities between this book and GC, GC was more detailed and developed and really kept the reader drawn to the story. I can only guess it's because the author had so much more to go on because she had lived the story in GC, unlike this book. Each day when I picked the book up to read more about Bean & Liz's journey and then new life in Byler, I was waiting to get to the 'good part'; where the story would really take that turn into GreatBookLand, but it never did. Don't get me wrong, it's a good story and I will recommend it, but it was no sheer page turner. Level 1 Glass Castle if you will...a good starter book. One review I read said to think of The Silver Star as a prequel to what's to come and looking back at the story line and ending, I can see how this could be possible and I actually am hoping it will turn out that way. In the mean time, I will just reach over for my copy of GC when I want a good read.

Some reviewers have complained that the characters in this book are one-dimensional, that the author is trying to copy the voice of Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird. The book is mentioned in the story, and I suppose you could draw that conclusion. So does that make this whole book derivative or not?

I vote not. I found it an enjoyable read, maybe because I liked how plucky and resourceful the girls were, and I liked that they succeeded, more often than not. For example, when they set off to find their mother's home, it could have gone very badly, but it ended up being a good thing. I liked that, but it might not have seemed deep enough for other readers.

I will say that the ending spoiled the book for me. I hated the mother, even though she had her good side, and I would have liked to see some hint of resolution there. But the book ends so abruptly. I was immersed in the chapter, which had good imagery and was metaphorically important, but to just write The End after it--what a mood killer. I felt shortchanged, and it left me with mixed feelings about the story.

Yes, this review contains spoilers, but if you don't guess what's about to happen many pages before it does, you are not good detective material or you weren't concentrating. First, the good stuff. This woman can write some dialogue, no doubt about it. She has a wonderful writing style and there is something sweet and nostalgic about this novel. Her narrator is a spunky young girl, a combination of Nancy Drew, Scout Finch and Flavia de Luce, the heroine of a wonderfully literate series written by Alan Bradley. Unfortunately, it is one dimensional and predictable in every way.

I agree with other reviewers who thought this book was better suited for a "young adult" audience. For one thing, it is doubtful that teens or even college age readers would have read The Glass Castle and, therefore, the book would not seem to be the novel version of that excellent memoir. If you have not read "The Glass Castle," get it and read it and forget this book. The Glass Castle was the real deal and this is the discount store version.

Two young girls, half sisters, in 6th and 9th grade when the book begins, have been dragged around the country by their mother who believes she is destined to become a success as a country singer. Narcissistic and probably schizophrenic, already in her mid-thirties and without any evidence to support her belief, she is undaunted in her quest. In a bungalow in the California desert, she leaves her children alone for days at a time as she goes off to Los Angeles in pursuit of her dream. Once, enough time goes by without their mother's return that the girls, who have been subsisting on chicken pot pies bought from a mini-mart, take all their remaining money and buy bus tickets to Virginia to visit their uncle, the only relative they know that actually exists as their mother is prone to fantasy. The bus trip begins in California and without missing a beat, the same bus arrives in New Orleans. They change buses once between eastern California and Virginia. And not much happens.

There is a bit where the girls outwit a "pervert" but otherwise, the trip is uneventful. The uncle is what one would expect: a hermit living in the family plantation house gone to ruin, surrounded by relics of ancestral glory days. Predictably, he is unhappy to see his nieces but they soon worm their way into his heart and are moved from sleeping in the barn to the "main house," where they take charge and clean the place up and generally act like responsible adults.

The girls now live in the home of the former first family of Tiny, Virginia (not its real name)and everyone knows about them. They meet extended family and the younger daughter locates her father's family who are the goodhearted locals you've heard tell about in other books. At about this point is where this book lost me... Their uncle is so lost in the past that he doesn't understand why the girls need money for new school clothes - and, they are so afraid to hurt his feelings that they try to find jobs. Now, remember, this town is so small that anything of interest that happens is known by every resident in about fifteen minutes. So... SPOILER...

Everyone in town turns them down except.... yes, you guessed it, the town villain. And, it's a big secret although the older sister is driving all over town with "the big villain" as his personal assistant. What happens then is so predictable I wanted to skip to the part where something actually happens. If you are waiting for a twist, a big reveal.. you won't get it. Every single thing one might assume would happen, does. Villain tries to molest daughter. Daughter resists. Driver for villain sees all and swears to tell all in court - but... and so on. It was a diversion for the couple of hours it took to read it but that's about it... so disappointing for a book so highly anticipated.

Again, this is not a bad book. It is a simple fairy tale, well told, but probably much more appealing to a teenage audience.