From Dust to Stardust is a story that closely parallels the life of Colleen Moore, a well-known silent film actress, although author Kathleen Rooney tells readers that it is fiction and not a biography. At first, I was distracted by the fact that many characters were historical while some were not. Once I got past that, however, the book was very entertaining. Doreen O'Dare, the story's heroine, decided as a child that she was meant to be an actor, and what she wanted more than anything was to act in the new medium of motion pictures. Her uncle, an influential newspaper editor in Chicago who had done a favor for a movie producer, obtained an audition for Doreen; the rest was history. At the age of only fourteen, with her beloved grandmother as a chaperone, she traveled by train to the West Coast from her home in Florida and began acting in pictures. The story flew along, full of anecdotal snippets about the lives of many early silent film stars and other well-known figures of the time.
The novel is well-researched, and the author has a demonstrable affection for her subject. Like the author, I fell in love with Colleen Moore's fairy castle at a young age. Because of her love of the Castle, Kathleen Rooney became interested in Colleen Moore's life. Housed in the lower level of the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, the castle is something everyone, not just those with young children, should visit. The museum itself is fabulous, a wonderful experience and education for all ages.
One additional note of interest from the Afterword: the movie A Star Is Born was based on a screenplay and film written by a close friend of Colleen Moore (although uncredited) about Colleen's marriage.
Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC of this novel.

FROM DUST TO STARDUST by Kathleen Rooney gives readers a fascinating look into the silent film era and a resilient actress who works to lift the nation's spirits.

This review was made possible via an ARC through NetGalley.

I didn't know who Colleen Moore was before this book and now I'm obsessed with her doll house, the Fairy Castle, due to the framing device of the interview about the doll house. Doreen O'Dare isn't exactly Colleen Moore, but there's a ton of overlap in their histories that really show off the level of care Rooney took to telling this story. If you like the Silent/Jazz era, there's a ton of references to real celebrities and scandals that will keep you grounded and entertained.

There's a layer of melancholy to the Voice that permeates everything and it's written beautifully. I'd say the prose is borderline literary and it's a very close POV.

Rooney also showcased attitudes and stereotypes towards Irish people in that time period and I really appreciated that she drew attention to it as a person of Irish descent. The historical elements were grounding without being distracting.

I recommend this to lovers of historical fiction, fans of the silent film era, and people interested in the history of celebrity culture as what happened in Doreen/Colleen's time is still relevant today.

This book wasn't for me tbh. I got a little over half way through, but it's not doing anything for me.
When I read the synopsis I expected something like The Great Gatsby, Babylon or Evelyn Hugo, but it wasn't anything like it. There wasn't enough drama, the pacing was way too slow for me. I didn't connect with any of the characters and I thought the main character was a bit boring.
Furthermore I really didn't understand the connection between the doll house and her past life. Maybe it will come later in the book, but unfortunately I am not going to be reading the rest.

I really tried, but I could not connect with this book. My mind kept wandering so I had to just walk away.

Colleen Moore might be a largely forgotten star of Old Hollywood but Rooney revives her with this tale of Doreen, who is based on her. This is a tour through the life of a woman who as a girl wanted to be a movie star and who achieved that, as well as other things, notably the construction of the fairy palace of her dreams. It's notable for the cameos by others (I found myself searching for info on each person who was introduced). Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A pleasant read.

It was an honor to read “From Dust to Stardust” by Kathleen Rooney. It appealed to me instantly because of my love for the Fairy Castle which lives at The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. Although I have an attachment to this extraordinary doll house, I knew very little about the famous silent film actress Doreen O’’Dare who created it.
Doreen’s true name is Colleen Moore. She believed that she was born to be a great movie star, and at 14 left her family home with her extraordinary grandmother to pursue her dream. How she achieves her dream during a time when studios still saw their actresses as little more than chattel, and the challenges she faced in her personal life makes her success even more stunning. The amount of research that was done by the author for this book is exceptional and makes this story read like a memoir. Colleen Moore was a successful actress, collector, investor and philanthropist and I know you will love this fictional story of her life.

Thank you NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing, and the author for the ARC of this book in exchange for my review.

From Dust to Stardust is a novel closely based on Colleen Moore’s life, an actual silent film star.

Doreen O’Dare at 14 (with her grandmother in tow) goes to Hollywood (in 1916) with dreams of becoming a star. The story goes through her tumultuous life: her first marriage to a controlling alcoholic, her rise to success as a women in a man’s world; her famous and wonderful friends, the changing world of Hollywood from 1916-1930 and her work ethic, moral code and romantic notions of good and bad. Interspersed throughout the story is her love of miniatures and fairies for which she builds a life-size dollhouse to showcase the miniatures (and this takes up a good portion of the novel).

I really enjoy Kathleen Rooney’s writing, I even read some aloud to my friend while reading because I think she does such a good job with her pen (and I loved Lilian Boxfish which was why I picked this one up). However, the time leaps from modern to past were a bit jarring and I wasn’t particularly interested in her miniature collection. I think Doreen is a fascinating character (an 8th grade education but accomplished so much for a woman in that age) but it was diminished with the discussions of these miniatures. A straightforward story would have been more interesting for me personally (or at least taking up less of the novel).

3.75 stars (rounded to 4 for the review)

Thank you NetGalley and lake Union Publishing for my advanced copy

I’m a Kathleen Rooney fan. I adored both Lillian Boxfish and Cheri Ami. And I was also a fan of this story about Hollywood during the days of silent films. The story tracks Eileen Sullivan, who took the stage name of Doreen O’Dare, whose uncle wrangles her a screen test with Cecil B. DeMille. She goes on to become a star.
The story is closely based on Colleen Moore. Her name is mostly forgotten now, unlike Theda Bara, Lilian Gish, Clara Bow or Mary Pickford. But she was the star that made the bobbed haircut famous. And for three years running, she was the top of the world in box office receipts.
The book is sprinkled with all the names you associate with silent films and a lot of the gossip concerning them. Googling a few incidents, I learned they were all real. The story truly captures the early days of film up until the time when talkies began to take over.
During the years, Eileen created a miniature fairy castle. During the depression, she takes it on a national tour, using the money raised to aid children’s charities. In her later years, she gifts it to a museum. It’s as she’s detailing the rooms of the castle to a museum conservator that she also tells her backstory. I would have preferred a straightforward story as I was not excited by the details of the castle at all. These little forays into the later years took me out of the story and disrupted the pace.
I enjoyed Eileen. She was a hard worker, strong willed but also a romantic. And while not educated, she had common sense in abundance and a clear eyed ability to see all parts of Hollywood. In an interesting turn of fate, she became a financial advisor who specialized in helping women. The story is meticulously researched. I recommend this for fans of historical fiction.
My thanks to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for an advance copy of this book.

Based upon real-life actress Colleen Moore From Dust to Stardust is a magical tale of the silent film era and what it took to be a “star”. I loved how it also dealt with Doreen’s personal life, not just her romances but her relationships with her friends, family, co-workers, her bosses and the press. The more I got to know Doreen the more I grew to love her. She stood up for herself when it wasn’t commonplace for women. She tried her best through a tough marriage and fought for the pay and contracts she knew she deserved. And all the while she tried to stay true to herself.

I was fully captivated by Doreen’s story and the castle (there really is one in Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry) she built to boost morale during the Depression and to give the profits to charity. Doreen is a complex character and her heart and soul are embedded throughout the story. The author’s research is impeccable so it was no wonder the story felt so real and tangible. Rooney handles the reality of alcoholism and spousal abuse in a delicate yet extremely real manner. I was so enthralled it was hard to get back to the real world of 2023. I adored this book.

This is a well written, engrossing story quite firmly based on the life story of Colleen Moore. The fictional narrative stuck closely to the events of Moore’s life, from her 18 year mainly silent movie career to her philanthropic work and troubled marital history. It sheds light on attitudes in Hollywood and becomes remarkable in that the heroine retains dignity, integrity and generosity when many haven’t. You see the difference in attitudes to men and women and the thought of an independent, resourceful woman at the time was inexplicable to some. How sad. The story deserves to be told widely

4.5 stars for a historical novel that is wonderfully immersive and engaging. Rooney has taken a forgotten silent film star, Colleen Moore, and used her as the basis for the dynamic character of Doreen O'Day. Colleen/Doreen worked in Hollywood for eighteen years, briefly making the transition to talkies before retiring and devoting herself to the construction of an intricate dollhouse, which she toured the country with during the Depression in order to raise money for children's charities. Later in life, she became an investment broker and even wrote a book in 1969 instructing women on how to make money in the stock market. The bulk of this book focuses on O'Day's time in Hollywood, and the dynamics of her rocky first marriage to an alcoholic producer. The only reason I docked this half a star is that the conceit used to revisit Doreen's past - an interview at the museum that houses her "Fairy Castle" dollhouse in the 1960s - just didn't work for me. I thought it was unnecessarily contrived and interrupted the flow of the story. I ended up watching clips and photos of Colleen, which I highly recommend before/while/after reading this book, and I'm determined to see the Fairy Castle for myself next time I'm in Chicago. Rooney is a strong writer who has brought a remarkable woman to life. Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for a digital review copy.

I really enjoyed this book. It was well written, and some great characters that I connected well with. There were plenty of references to events and people of the era, and I felt it represented the time very well. I was really interested to find out at the end that this story was based on the true life story of Colleen Moore "The Original Flapper". I also found photographs online of the 1 ton miniature fairy castle that the real Colleen created (somewhat larger than my imaginings!) and would recommend the reader to check them out. Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC.

I am a huge fan of Kathleen Rooney's writing style, and have an interest in old Hollywood stories personally - so this was an easy one for me to like. That being said, I did think it dragged a bit and I was ready to finish it by the time I got towards the end. I will recommend this to people who are looking for a slow, traditional story.

I love me some flappers and Jazz Age and Depression and 1920s/1930s historical fiction in general. Reading about the early days of Hollywood was interesting; however, this felt more like a biography/Wikipedia entry at times - I didn't really feel that the character was a living, breathing entity I could get to know. Excellent and through research and historical world building.

"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."

I was an still am obsessed with her Fairy Castle!

A charming little story involving Hollywood in the 19teens and above. Was interesting to read about the transition to talkies. Also the miniatures and doll houses/castle was fun. Fairies played a role in the characters lives. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for this Advanced Readers Copy of From Dust to Stardust by Kathleen Rooney!

This just didn’t grab my attention. I was bored and didn’t vibe with the writing style, having a hard time getting attached to the characters. It felt like there was no direction and The dollhouse aspect was interesting but pulled me out of the story. I love old Hollywood stories and would have loved to read about the silent film era but sadly this just isn’t my cup of tea so I DNFd around the 50 page mark

I really liked the whole idea of this novel, loosely based upon the life of Colleen Moore.
A huge plot, detailed storyline and character development. Plot is quick paced, but too quick in parts though.
A fan of old Hollywood, chasing dreams and kinda of the Great Gatsby and Babylon era will like this book.