This is a fictionalized account of a true story, the story that inspired Lolita. (There's also a nonfiction book out next month.)

This is a harrowing story but, at the same time, there are moments of hope and happiness. Sally keeps almost getting rescued, but circumstances keep her trapped with her kidnapper. (The neighbor who ultimately gets her rescued is a real person; several others are the author's invention.)

I hate that "Lolita" is used the way it is. Lolita (and Sally) is a girl who was kidnapped and repeatedly raped. It's not a sex-positive story. It's not a love story. It's a cautionary tale. This story in particular shows the effect that it had on Sally, as well as on her family, a teacher and friends. Lives were irrevocably damaged. (Again, not a love story.)

This book will affect you, so go in aware of that. But it's also amazing. Recommended.

Best book I've read, so far, this year! Heartbreaking and yet so wonderful. I fell in love with the main character, Sally, a 12year old girl who's real life story is told here. (Real history plus some dialogue) I will not give away spoilers because I'm grateful I didn't know them, but I promise you, you'll never forget this novel. You should block out time to read it, because you will not be able to put it down. So many interesting characters and situations to enjoy, but I have to confess, I left a piece of my heart behind at the end.

4.5 stars

This was a rough, sad read; but so well-written and one that will most likely stay with me for a long time to come.

Do I recommend? Yes, but only with the warning going in that you need to be prepared for dark subject matter as in child abuse, both physical and sexual, even animal abuse. If you can get around that, this is a worthy read.

I think the story being told from multiple POV's helped break up the horror's that were told in Sally's chapters. Without this, I don't know if I could have continued on to the end. And thankfully there were some moments of hope, love and triumph weaved in. The most heartfelt coming from those who were strangers, who did what they could to try and help.

Much respect to the author. (The author's note at the end was a nice way to wrap things up)
Looking forward to seeing what she comes up with next!

ARC provided by NetGalley

Heart wrenching, fascinating fictionalized account of real-life events. The story of Sally Horner, basis for the book Lolita, is brought to life in this interesting story from T Greenwood. Parts of the book are difficult to read, but the story is fast paced, alternating between various characters in the book.

I didn't expect much going into this one but I definitely found myself enjoying the read. It's well written and, while fictional, does surround two non-fictional people. I didn't know prior to reading this about the Sally Horner case from the 1940's so this was definitely an interesting introduction.

Looking at the cover and hearing the title, you would imagine this to be some harmless pretty tale. But what this book has in store for you is something completely different. If you have read Lolita by Nabokov you would know that his book was based on the abduction of 11-year old Sally Horners. This book is inspired from that incident and is a fictional rendering of the horrifying true crime where an 11 year old girl was abducted and abused, mentally and physically, by a sadistic pedophile for two years.

“She felt as if she’d been invited to play a game, but that nobody was telling her the rules.”

From the very first page, Sally managed to make a strong connection with me. I could relate to her deep need to connect, to belong.
Her immense thirst for knowledge and her undying curiosity made her all the more endearing. And that is exactly why, what followed next, was so difficult to read.

“That sometimes, life was simply too much to bear. Both its pain and its beauty.”

Greenwood never dials down on the intensity of all the emotions Sally and her family go through during the two years she was kept captive. You go through each emotion of guilt, fear, pain and regret as if it was happening to you. Everytime a beacon of hope arises, you pray right along with Ella, Susan and Al for the sade return of Sally. And everytime you see that hope dashed, you lose a bit of faith in the world right alongside them.

“Wasn’t all of this evidence that no matter what sort of allegiances were promised, what sort of pledges made, in the end they were all on their own? Alone?”

The reader is under a constant brutal onslaught of horrifying and heart breaking emotions. We go through everything Sally goes through as well as the guilt, regret and hope her family members undergo.

The writing was phenomenal. The lyrical flowing prose added an undertone of eeriness to the story which makes it all the more real and frightening. The book produced so many warring emotions in me of such intensity that I had to frequently put it down. I almost gave up on it several times because I was afraid I couldn’t handle so much pain. But the constant urgent need to see this girl rescued, to set her free from the monster who keeps her bound, makes you pick it back up.

This is a spine chilling fictional recounting of the abduction and abuse of a 11 year old child by a monstrous pedophile and needless to say, it is filled with triggers of all kinds. It will smash your heart to bits but it needs to be read. This story of Sally needs to be heard. So if the trigger contents are not a problem for you, then I suggest you pick a copy of this book as soon as it hits the stands. Its releasing on the 7th of August.
Thank you St.Martins Press and netgalley for sending me an arc of this book.
Rating : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wow. Did I really just read that in one sitting?

Rust & Stardust is a fantastically written thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. It's intriguing, mysterious, horrifying, and all the things a thriller should be. 5 stars!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a digital ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Sally Horner just wanted to be friends with the popular girls at school. The girls who took a blood oath and formed a secret sisterhood club under the trees at recess. These girls were everything that Sally wasn’t, and in order to be accepted by the sisterhood, Sally had to pass an initiation first - steal something from Woolworth’s.

Sally went with the girls to Woolworth’s after school, and set off into the store to find something to steal. After nervously stuffing a composition notebook in her sweater, Sally hurriedly attempted to leave the store only to be accosted by a foreboding man who claimed to be with the FBI. He saw Sally stealing, and informed her that unless she wanted things to go very badly for her, she must do what he said.

And this is where the terrifying real-life kidnapping story of Florence “Sally” Horner began.

When I started T. Greenwood’s new novel, Rust and Stardust, I was unaware that it was based on a true story. In fact, I was well into the book before I learned about the real Sally Horner’s kidnapping in the 1940s. Discovering that this story was based on actual events made this page-turning novel even more horrifying and compelling. Having no knowledge of the details of the case, I couldn’t get to the end fast enough to learn if Sally made it out okay.

T. Greenwood has long been a favorite author of mine, mainly because her storytelling is so masterful. In Rust and Stardust, she brings to life the tragic story of little eleven year old Sally Horner, reimagining what happened to her on that fateful day at the end of fifth grade, and all the years that came after. Greenwood does justice to Sally’s story by delving deep into the minds of the characters and figuring out what made them tick. I never felt like Greenwood cheapened or exploited Sally Horner; rather she dealt with uncomfortable situations with tact and grace and avoided blaming anyone but Frank La Salle for what happened to Sally.

Anyone who loves a story well-told, especially those revolving around true events, will not be able to put down Rust and Stardust. This is a story that you can really lose track of time while reading, it’s just that good. I read most of it in one sitting, which is saying a lot for me. Surely to be heralded a “can’t miss” novel of 2018, don’t wait to pick up Rust and Stardust!

This book is so sad and difficult to read. It had its flaws, but overall was written so well and poetically. I really enjoyed the authors writing style. Although the book was so dark, the writing was lyrical and beautiful. It was so heartbreaking and scary to read considering it is based off of a true kidnapping. The mystery/thriller genre is definitely one I am trying to get more into, and this was the perfect book to get me started. It really puts you in that dark and grim mood, and it was everything I could have asked for in a novel.

This beautifully-written book broke my heart as I read it. The characters and surroundings were so realistically rendered that I felt like I was there with Sally going through the horrors of her captivity. The fact this novel is based on a true case makes the horrible facts even more vivid. I wasn't familiar with the Sally Horner case from 1948 or that the case was an inspiration for the book "Lolita". The author here did a very good job of combining facts with fiction to present a cohesive and horrifying story.

I'm sure people will say something like this couldn't happen now with all the social media and instant news we have. But there are still vulnerable, naive girls in the world and there are still horrible predators waiting to pounce on them. A sober and terrifying thought.

This was a tough book to get through. The material is difficult (child kidnaping and sexual assault) and the story and characters are all very sad (in 1950s New Jersey, a low-income family is rocked when 11-year old Sally is kidnapped by Frank La Salle, a criminal who convinces Sally he works for the FBI and is arresting her for shoplifting). Told through alternating perspectives, the book shows how each character (Sally, mom Ella, sister Susan, brother-in-law Al, school teachers and friends) are each affected by the kidnapping.

As much as a slog it was to get through this book, i was riveted by it. The writing was suspenseful and extremely sad (Sally’s plight is very, very sad) and i was on the edge of my seat at the end hoping everything was going work out for Sally and her family. SPOILER: I also appreciated that once Sally was rescued and reunited with her family, the author showed the aftermath of the kidnapping and how the family didn’t go back to normal, but was deeply affected by the whole situation.

Readers who like historical fiction and true crime will most likely enjoy this book.

Review: RUST AND STARDUST by Tammy Greenwood . Fantastic book, though sometimes a heartbreaking and painful read. Based on the 1948 kidnapping of Florence Sally Horner and also the inspiration of Vladimir Nabokos's LOLITA. Sally walks into a Woolworth Drugstore to steal a notebook on a dare from other school girls, never knowing it will affect the rest of her life in unimaginably horrible ways .⭐⭐⭐⭐Four stars

Rust & Stardust by T. Greenwood is a historical fiction read that is based on the real life kidnapping of eleven year old Sally Horner. The author has taken the basis of Sally’s abduction and added fictional details to her story to bring her time in captivity to life.

In 1948 Sally Horner had wanted nothing more than to join the popular girls club at her school so when they approached her claiming to want to be friends Sally of course was excited. The girls told Sally in order to enter the club all she had to do was steal something from the local store.

As Sally wandered the store looking for something to take what she doesn’t realize is she has an audience, fifty two year old Frank LaSalle. As Sally tries to exit the story Frank approaches her and claims to be F.B.I. taking her away due to the theft. Before you know it Frank takes Sally across the country all with threats to keep her from fighting back.

Again, I’m always quite interested when an author takes a real life event I can look up and see the details of and puts their own spin on the story. I wasn’t familiar with Sally’s story before reading this but a lot of people may be since her story also inspired Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita but whether familiar or not it should still be a compelling tale. Obviously this one has some tough material in it reading what could have happened to young Sally but the author didn’t go overly graphic and it was done quite well with an ease to the writing. When finished I’d definitely recommend checking this one out.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

So many thanks to NetGalley, St Martin's Press and T. Greenwood for the opportunity to read this amazing book. I am still reeling.

Based on the true story of a kidnapping in Camden, NJ, that was the inspiration for the novel Lolita, this is a novel centering around Sally Horton. Sally never quite fit in with the girls from school - she was being raised by a single mother after her father left and her stepfather died by suicide. When a group of popular girls invites her into their group if she will complete an initiation, she goes for it. They tell her she must steal something from the local Woolworth's store. When she walks out with a composition notebook tucked under her shirt, she is grabbed by a man who tells her he is from the FBI and she needs to come with him.

From that point on, it's just such a sad tale. Sally will pull at your heartstrings and not let go. Plus, all the angels along the way who saw what was happening and tried to help but never quite did - a lesson for all of us in today's world. This also shows the effect this crime had on Sally's family - her mother who was crippled with rheumatoid arthritis, her sister and her family.

This story is told from multiple points of view and is beautifully written. This one will stay with me. Highly, highly recommended!

RUST & STARDUST
By T. Greenwood

Thank you to Net Galley, T Greenwood and St. Martin's for making this title available in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is a hard one for me to review because I found it so difficult to read. Perhaps because it is based on a real kidnapping in 1948 using the same name Sally Horner who was 11 years old. I don't quite understand why my stomach was dropped to the floor throughout reading the entire book. Those that know me probably are perplexed why I find this book so challenging, since I read a lot of psychological thrillers and am in the mood for a good scare. All I can think of to explain why I was white knuckled holding this while feeling a terrible sense of dread is that it really happened. I understand this is a fictional account of the story, but that didn't make it easier to read. The writing is excellent and the story flows easily so I applaud the author for painting me a very vivid picture in my mind of what was happening.

I really felt a ton of empathy for Ella, Sally's mother in this recreation. I have made the same mistake she did by allowing my youngest son to sleep over his friend's house without knowing the parents well. If my youngest son asked me if he could visit or go over a friend from school he knew I would trust the parent if I spoke to either one of them and they invited him. I felt for both Sally and her mother Ella the same agony they felt. Knowing that I was reading fiction based on factual events still horrified me.

Maybe it is the timing and I needed something lighter. I don't want to scare those folks off who want to read this. I remember reading "Lolita," five years ago which the factual case was inspired by and not feeling as squeamish. The "Lolita," character seemed more sophisticated and more mature. I was able to read "Lolita," without an ounce of feeling as horrified as I was while reading this. I don't think I have become more empathetic and more sensitive suddenly. I had to keep taking breaks with this one vs. "Lolita." I think it all comes down to me knowing I am reading a fictional accounting of a factual story that I know has happened.

Rust & Stardust is a break-your-heart novel based on a true crime, the kidnapping of Florence (Sally) Horner by Frank LaSalle in Camden, NJ in 1948. It is a dark, disturbing story told very well.

It is June of 1948. Sally wants to make friends with a group of girls who have a secret club. School is almost over, and if she can make friends, she’ll have someone to play with over the summer. The girls tell her that she can join if she passes the initiation – stealing something from the local Woolworth’s store. With the other girls waiting at the soda counter, Sally roams the store and eventually puts a composition book into her sweater. As she’s ready to leave the store, a man (Frank LaSalle) gets up from the counter, grabs her arm and takes her aside. He tells her he’s an FBI agent, and would hate to see a girl like her be placed in juvenile detention for stealing. He won’t tell the police about her crime, but will get the matter cleared up himself with her at the courtroom if she just does what he says. Sally looks around for the girls, but they have disappeared.

Within days, Frank tells Sally that he has been told that the case must be heard in the Atlantic City courtroom. Sally is to tell her mother that a friend has invited Sally to join her family on their week vacation to Atlantic City. Her mother, Ella, is worried because she doesn’t know the family Sally is referring to, yet doesn’t want to deprive her daughter of something that she herself cannot provide to her. She agrees to meet the father. Frank cons her as well, telling Ella that his wife and daughter are already in Atlantic City, but he has asked a female co-worker going to AC as well to act as a chaperone, because it would seem improper if the two of them travelled alone. Satisfied, Ella sees Sally and Frank off on the bus.

But one week turns into two, then three, then four… Frank has Sally write Ella postcards saying what a wonderful time she’s having etc., but in reality, Frank ties Sally up and locks the room anytime he has to leave. He tells her that the court date has been postponed, that if she tries to escape, he will tell the police about the theft and she will be sent away, shaming her family.

Then the sexual assaults begin. With each new assault, Sally loses more and more of herself and soon realizes that he has no intention of letting her go. They move from place to place, for two years before LaSalle is caught and Sally is returned to her family.

During that time, her family and several police departments are searching for her, offering a reward for information. Several people they encounter think something is amiss, but don’t step up to get involved. There are also a couple of missed opportunities when people are prepared to help her and then, due to differing circumstances, have to leave the area before they can follow through on it.

Greenwood does an excellent job of telling this story from multiple viewpoints to provide the reader with a complete view of what’s going on from multiple angles. The characters are complex and very well drawn.

This is a very good, but disturbing read. 4.5 stars.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

I got an ARC of Rust & Stardust a while ago, but I was never really in the mood to read it, so I kept postponing. But I finally started it last week and totally powered through it in 3 days.

As is my style, I knew very little about this book going in, except that it was about the true crime that inspired Nabokov’s classic, Lolita. Disclaimer: I haven’t read Lolita, so I’m not really sure what intrigued me so much about this one, but I’m glad I requested it because it was a really interesting fictional account, based on the true kidnapping of 11 year old Sally Horner.

Rust & Stardust features a series of narrators from Sally’s family and from individuals that crossed paths with Sally during her kidnapping, but it is predominantly narrated by Sally herself. I don’t often like child narrators that much, but I thought Sally’s voice in this book, and Greenwood’s style of writing, we’re perfect for this time setting and plot. Sally reads a copy of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn throughout this story (one of my personal favourite books), and I thought that the writing and narration style were very similar to Betty Smith’s classic and I thought it was such a fitting comparison to have Sally relate to Francie’s experience.

For some context, this story starts when Sally gets caught trying to shoplift a notebook by Mr. Warner, a customer in the store. However, he convinces Sally that he actually works for the FBI and that she is in big trouble for trying to steal. He essentially blackmails her into coming to Atlantic City with him so that she can clear her name before a judge and convinces her she needs to keep this shame secret from her mother and sister.

What follows is 2 years of captivity for Sally at the hands of the perverted Mr. Warner (Frank La Salle in real life). While her family is desperate to find her and slowly starts to fall apart in her absence, Sally is coming of age in extremely horrifying and abusive circumstances. Her kidnapping is pretty horrifying, but I appreciated the author for not being overly graphic in her descriptions. I thought the author totally nailed Sally’s voice. As the reader, you just want to rage at Mr. Warner, but you can also understand Sally’s confusion at the turn of events, her inner guilt and shame at what she’s done and what’s been done to her, and how her thoughts get so turned around by Mr. Warner’s constant gaslighting.

In reality, almost all of this story is fabricated, but the bones of the novel are based on true events. It is mostly unknown what actually happened between Sally and Frank La Salle during the 2 years of her captivity, but Greenwood has appropriately conveyed how evil Frank La Salle is (even if some of the events are fabricated). He was a character that made me so mad, mostly because of how he mentally abuses and gaslights Sally throughout the entirety of the book. He is so manipulative and aside from physically abusing her, he really gets inside her head and makes her question everything about her family and the world. It was so heartbreaking to watch a young girl have to come of age (something that can be traumatizing enough for an 11 year old) without her mother and sister for support.

There’s also a whole side story going on with Sally’s mother, Ella, and her sister and husband, Susan and Al. I didn’t find the side plot as compelling as Sally’s story, but it did add an interesting dimension to the story.

Mostly I just liked that I learned something new from this book, and my enjoyment was greatly aided by Sally’s voice in this novel. I thought the writing fit the time period perfectly. I felt like I had been transported to 1950 and even though I thought the writing was told in a slightly detached kind of way, it conveyed so well Sally’s horror and confusion and how a single event can compound and become unimaginably bad and seemingly insurmountable without proper emotional support.

A good (but upsetting) read, I liked this a lot more than anticipated.

A horrible story about the manipulation by a sociopath (my diagnosis) upon an 11 year old girl and her mother. While deplorable, we dutifully read on, wishing that Sally survives. While not my genre, it was a well written book that I’m glad I read. Although her other story was even more enjoyable. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Knowing that this fictional book is really based on a true event made this even more engrossing to me. I really liked this book. I think the author did a great job with the research and the writing was engaging. I wasn't expecting it to be so sad, but that could have also been my frame of mind when I was reading it. I highly recommend this book. Thank you NetGalley!

Wow. This book was definitely not easy to read. I had never heard of Sally Horner before I came across Rust and Stardust and even when I did I was hesitant. What happened to that poor girl was horrible and I'm sure I won't be able to get it out of my head for weeks.

That aside lets talk about the book itself. The writing was just excellent. Even though this is a fictional account based on the real story, I could feel the desperation, the misery of her family left behind and her own pain through which very few glimmers of hope would occasionally shine. It was hard to believe that the novel was fiction. Kudos to the author for that.