“All you need is faith, trust, and a little bit of pixie dust”
—Tinkerbell

In “From Dust to Stardust”,
is a dazzling richly layered historical fiction, coming of age story.
The details are so richly vivid it made me want to live in the setting and experience the times.

“Once upon a time, an unprepossessing child with mismatched eyes—one brown, one blue—arrived to poor parents at precisely the right moment”.
“Eileen Sullivan, the girl I once was, was born on August 19, 1902, in Port Huron, Michigan. Doreen O’Dare, the girl I became, was born in the summer of 1916 in Chicago, Illinois, not long before she hopped a California-bound train”.

Doreen O’ Dare, is based on the boisterous American film actress, Colleen Moore who began her career during the silent film era. Moore became one of the most fashionable stars of the era and helped popularized the bobbed haircut. Her two passions were movies and Dollhouses.

This is not a sucky celebrity book…
….rather we get the nuts and bolts of the movie business during a remarkable era…..
filled with tons of personality, history and intimacy.
Kathleen Rooney did a marvelous job capturing the silent film era full of artistic innovation with interesting hard working talents of the days
She brought to life an unknown character - Doreen O’Dare - that helped me better appreciate the dreams one has in childhood and how they make that leap to having those dreams come true in their adult life.

I’m really moved and inspired by this book and all I learned.
I love movies and stage theater today, but my education and appreciation for the early days of silent films was lacking. And learning about the magnificent Dollhouse — a featured exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago was a huge treat.
The Dollhouse measuring 9 square feet is estimated to be worth $7 million - and over a million people visit the Dollhouse exhibit yearly.
The photos I found online are stunning.

Kathleen opened up a world for me - one I never knew I wanted or needed to see —
but something close to transformational shift happened to me from reading this novel.
It filled in holes. I enjoyed reading about an array of known names ( but I didn’t know them) from the silent film era …. I learned a lot - and loved what I learned.

I also reflected on my own daughter’s acting and artistic developments in ways I never really thought about.

Our first born daughter -41 years old - is a professional actress working in Hollywood.
Having already been in dozens of children’s theater productions by age 8, she was cast in her first professional job with an equity Bay Area theater, TheatreWorks.
Katy was playing ‘The Little Mermaid’ with the San Jose, children’s musical theater group at the time, when the director from TheatreWorks saw her - got our home phone number wanting Katy to audition for them. Paul and I had reservations- we were not sure it was a good idea to set our daughter free in adult theater. She begged. We agreed. (I still question our choices) ….
After several call-back auditions, Katy got the job.
She played a young boy — young Emil in Act 1 of Willia Cather’s “O’ Pioneers”. Act 2 was played by an adult Emil.
Katy cut off her long hair into a very short boys haircut for the role. Kids at school made fun of her — but within months - many other 4th grade girls cut their hair too.
Katy’s second role with TheatreWorks was playing Michael Darling in a December Christmas production of Peter Pan.
Who knew that flying across the stage every night for six weeks was a child’s dream.
After a half dozen other roles playing a ‘boy’ ….our daughter was cast as a ‘girl’ playing a lead role for The San Jose Repertory theatre in “The Innocents” … a ghost story… a stage adaptation from
Henry James “The Taming of the Shrew”.
The rest is history… our daughter has worked for the Santa Cruz Shakespeare Company ACT in San Francisco….and other Bay Area theaters
She played the role of Helen Keller, Ann Frank as a young teen.
Later she moved to Los Angeles (after being a musical theater major in college).
Some of the roles she played in Los Angeles that I remember were lead roles in “Chorus Line”, and “Little Shop of Horrors”.
Cirque du Soleil offer Katy a job (Katy is a small-fry contortionist) … she worked for them a short time….but wasn’t a job she wanted.
Katy was on the TV show “American Horror Story… and just prior to the first covid lockdown….she produced her first musical in New York.
I’m no longer in much communication with Katy, (I know very sad) ….but she is
steadily working in Los Angeles today.

Not until this book did I think - so closely - about the development of our daughter’s artistic acting career associated with the many special relationships she had with adults……
her Shakespeare coach at ACT, her piano teacher, her voice teacher, her dance teacher, the many performances with friends and the classic children’s books she so deeply devoured-
She was always creating - dreaming - and working. I couldn’t seem to stop her if I tried ….
…. (minus the loophole of her horrific illness- anorexic- hospitalized several times) ….
But today Katy is healed….and I’m forever grateful.

It was clear to me from reading this book, that Doreen O’Dare’s dreams couldn’t have been stopped by her parents either.
Doreen’s Granny Shaughnessy was a huge inspiration to her growing up. Aunt Lib and Uncle Walter ( managing editor for the Chicago Examiner), believed her Doreen’s acting dreams, too. Walter actually made the arrangements for Doreen’s first audition.
D. W. Griffith owed him a payback favor.
Doreen’s parents, Agnes and Charles were not thrilled with Doreen’s silly acting aspirations. There were other problems at home too. I felt sad about the laborious relationship Doreen had with her parents….but thankful for Granny ….her aunt and uncle and later her friends in Hollywood.

Kathleen Rooney gives us a full bodied-panoramic experience of Doreen.
Doreen’s love for movies, dolls dollhouses, miniatures, were
fascinating.

Along with Doreen’s passions, beliefs, choices she made, opportunities that came and went, her driven vivacious determination….successes, the failures….marriages and divorces…blossoms and the flaws….
she lived an exuberant life.

Learning about many other unknown silent films, actors. directors, producers, cameramen, collaborators,
friends, and lovers of Doreen’s was totally interesting to me too. I googled often - wanting to know more about everything.
I couldn’t have enjoyed my own reading experience of “From Dust to Stardust” (a perfect title) and my extra-curricular-googling-silent- film era tidbits more ….
not for all the tea in China.

So…..
In “From Dust to Stardust”…..
we follow the astonishing Doreen from early childhood—to her rise-to-fame on screen popularity during the silent film era.
We also learn about her *phenomenal* creation of “The Fairy Castle” that is virtually a museum within a museum….a collection of miniature treasures in every room…displayed in the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.
Readers must goggle the images… it’s extraordinary. I’d love to visit the museum in person.
Today…millions of people do!!!! > each year.
.
The storytelling is packed with delicious gusto….fascinating facts — biographic film star snippets — low-downs — sagaciousness — a grandmother that we all wish we had (Granny Shaughnessy), family history, friends, lovers, seductions of all kinds….
There is much to take away, savor and contemplate.

Beautifully written prose…throughout…..
….captivating, wise, and greatly endearing.

A few excerpts:

As Granny Shaughnessy use to say:
“Diamonds come out of the Earth, cloudy. You have to work to make them gleam”.

“Granny and I set out our usual offerings for the fairies: a thin slice of bread, a saucer of milk and honey.
At fourteen I was old enough to suspect that these magic customs were childish, but I was not quite willing to give up their comfort, nor old enough yet to understand that they weren’t childish at all”.

“Everyone has their reasons for who they’ve come to be. Growing up, I saw how my dad could be terribly bitter about the discrimination that he encountered. Even after he managed to stabilize our finances, he’d bristle over the tiers he remained unable to ascend. ‘They’ll never ask a Catholic with a name like mine to join the country club, no matter how I break my back’. I hadn’t appreciated his humiliation until this audition. But I was there to act, not react, and I vowed not to give Dick the satisfaction of riling me”.

“Granny’s stories were dear, said my mother, because they were impossible. I pretended to agree, but I knew they were true. There were such beings as fairies”.

A few true snippets …..
Mildred Harris - An American actress: (1901 to 1944) she had been acting since age ten. Stage, film, vaudeville.
She was also the first wife of Charlie Chapman.
She died at age 43.

Robert Harron- (1893- 1920) American actor in the silent film era. He was one of Griffith’s favorites.
Famous for playing sensitive type roles. He acted in over 200 films….a huge celebrity in his time.
He died of an accidental self-inflicted gunshot at age 27.

Henry Freulich: (1906-1985) American cinematographer for thirty-one years. He died at age 79.
He was Doreen’s favorite and personal cameraman.

Marion Davies - (1897-1961) - American actress, producer, screenwriter, and philanthropist. Educated in a religious convent.
She became a leading performer in the Ziegfield Follies.
She died at age 64.

W. R. was William Randolph Hearst. (1863-1851) -
Marion Davies was his mistress
He was a publishing magnate, sometime politician, who built the Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California.
He died at age 88
My grandmother- in-law lived on the beach in San Simeon…
The Hearst Castle was literally in her backyard.
She died at age 78.

Marshall Neilan (1891 - 1958) - an American actor, and director.
He died at age 67

John Barrymore (1882 - 1942) - an American actor on stage, screen, and radio.
He was related to the Barrymore family.
He was honored the Hollywood Walk a Fame square.
He died at age 60.

Cecil B. DeMille (1881 - 1959) - American film, Director, producer, and actor.
He made 70 films… Both silent and sound.
He died at age 40, suddenly of typhoid fever.

D. W. Griffith (1875 - 1948) …. considered one of the most influential figures in the history of motion picture.
Known for directing “The Birth of a Nation”.
He has a controversial legacy— but was widely celebrated.
He died at age 73

Florence La Badie - ‘Fearless Flo’ …. (gorgeous) was an American-Canadian actress in the early days of silent films….was in more than dozens of movies …a major star between 1911-1917. She died young at 29 ….in a car accident.

Theda Bara - (1885-1955) another American silent film and stage actress …..a nice Jewish girl from Cincinnati.
Nicknamed ‘The Vamp’. She played seductive vampire type roles in exoticism and sexual domination.
She died at age 69.

*Sara Teasdale* - (1884 - 1933) an American lyric poet
….I only learned about her poetry from reading this book.
“To a Flame, from a Fool of a Moth who has no regrets for his folly, to remind the Flame of some exquisite weeks, which to both of them, will remain unforgettable”.
soooo romantic—but even more!!!!
Ha ….
Now I want to read more of Teasdale’s poems. (it’s on my Amazon wish list)…..
As well as watch some old films:
….The Birth of a Nation
….The Sky Pilot
….The Wall Flower
….The Bad Boy
….Naughty But Nice
….The Lotus Eater
….Why Be Good
….Lilac Time
etc….

….. “When life makes you cry a thousand times, you have to smile a thousand times. This way, you will be able to overcome your sorrow and be happy forever”.
—Tinkerbell

A wonderful book…..
…..Kathleen Rooney is a magical searcher into the past.

From Dust to Star Dust follows Eileen Sullivan who becomes a silent movie star and takes the stage name Doreen O' Dare. The novel is based on the life and times of the real silent movie star Colleen Moore and her amazing fairy castle that you will find in Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.

Kathleen Rooney takes us to 1920s Hollywood and what an amazing time in history that is, although not often focused on. There are a few name drops such as Charlie Chaplin and you feel like you are gaining a great insight into this time and almost as if you are eavesdropping amongst some great Hollywood icons. Although it is a work of fiction, Rooney has done her research.

I was absolutely absorbed in this novel. You really felt for the main character's struggles with family life, career and romantic relationships. It explored fighting stereotypes, friendship, family values, love, domestic violence and of course Irish folklore. It was just a wonderful read.

Anyone who loved Taylor Jenkins-Reid's Evelyn Hugo then you will fall in love Doreen O' Dare.

“Liberation in the form of fun.”
3.5 stars.

If you love early Hollywood, this is definitely the book for you! The book is inspired by the life of flapper star, Colleen Moore.

The first quarter of the book felt so magical to me. The way that Doreen found her passion was one of the cutest things that I have ever read. When she eventually makes her way to Hollywood, I really enjoyed the environment that Rooney set: people just figuring it out. It felt so exciting knowing that Doreen just had to keep working hard at the craft to make her own way. I also enjoyed how the story moved between the past and present as well as Doreen’s narration: it really felt as if I were sitting down with an old friend to hear their life story.

However, it’s about halfway into the book that I began losing interest. Doreen began to feel like an uninteresting person that interesting things happened to. I felt that we spent too much time in the wrong moments and would’ve loved to live longer in other moments. Doreen had to face (and overcome) many of her own battles against sexism and racism, but yet Rooney seems to gloss over the other ugly parts of Hollywood (save for alcoholism). Although I know the story is about Doreen, there just didn’t seem to be enough awareness of surrounding historical events.

Overall, I thought this was a really charming and inspirational story about how one can leave their mark on the world.

Interesting concept although the main character is very unique in her own way which I admired especially as it was set in a particular time.

At times the main character jumps to different points in her life.

Review in progress and to come.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review

From Dust to Stardust is the skillful novelization of Colleen Moore's life, a silent film star who was one of the most famous actresses of the roaring 20's, but is now mostly forgotten about. Her legacy lives on in the films that she made, or at least the ones that still remain (others are considered lost) and a beautiful enchanted miniature fairy castle that resides in the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.

I was not familiar with Colleen's life prior to this novel, nor have I read many books set in the silent film era, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved it. Eileen, de fictional character that serves as a stand-in for Colleen in this book, comes off as a wistful, pragmatic woman. I admired her self-knowledge, she knew what she wanted and she never swayed from that, which is a trait that is always commendable, but especially in a time period where women had far fewer options than they do now.

The only reason why I've not given this book five stars is because the pacing felt a little off at times. There are moments in Eileen's life where it feels like we spend almost every second of every day with her, and other times, especially during the second half of the book, such as the lawsuit she was dealing with as well as her divorce, that I wish we got to spend a little more time on.

Nonetheless, Rooney has managed to craft a novel that breathes life into a time period that is so often underutilized or forgotten about altogether.

An advanced copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This was an enjoyable read. I was fascinated to learn that it draws on the real life of a silent movie star. I liked how the author blended in real characters with her fictional ones: it felt seamless.

I was so absorbed in this book. Old Hollywood Glamor and the actors lives and the ups and downs that they face. This was based on a true story and it was so well written I couldn't tell you where truth ends and make believe begins. This was very well done.
I just reviewed From Dust to Stardust by Kathleen Rooney. #FromDusttoStardust #NetGalley
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Thank you for this advanced copy which was a great read, I had trouble putting this down! I liked the way it was written and it made for an easy read. I would definitely recommend and look forward to reading another book by this author! A stunner!

I was very excited to read this book since Rooney’s earlier novel, “Lillian Boxfish Takes A Walk” was truly life affirming for me. I am not disappointed. This is a well-researched, beautifully written book inspired by a real movie star of the 1920’s, Colleen Moore.

The author took me back to early film days and sprinkles in names of people who helped nurture the movie industry. Despite my being a huge fan of this era, I learned a great deal. I’m certainly going to pursue the lives of the people introduced in this book.

The stand-in for Moore is Doreen O’Dare who becomes a 1920’s film star, moving to Hollywood with her beloved grandmother at a shockingly young age. Her tale recounts the growing pains of the film industry. Additionally, the mores and scandals are revealed. As someone who has enjoyed this period of cinema history, I loved the way it was recounted here.

I certainly recommend this book. Additionally, the reader’s guide/questions make it ideal for groups. Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this thoughtful and lovely novel.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union for the opportunity to read Kathleen Rooney's From Dust to Stardust.

The Jazz Age was a magical time, and not just in Hollywood. Ms. Rooney's research and writing brought it all home beautifully. The castle and the fairies were the perfect extra bit of glitter. Just right!

And now I'm off to read more about Colleen Moore, on whom this story was based.

I wasn't the biggest fan of this novel, although I applaud the author for this being her first work of fiction. The first person narrative did little to pique my interest and I was not motivated to keep reading the story.