Review: The Silver Star
Posted by Cathie on Friday, August 30, 2013. Filed under: contemporary fiction, fiction, published in 2013, review, reviewed in 2013
The Silver Star by Jeanette Walls
Published by: Scribner
Our source: Complimentary copy from the publisher
What it’s about (from Goodreads):
It is 1970 in a small town in California. “Bean” Holladay is twelve and her sister, Liz, is fifteen when their artistic mother, Charlotte, a woman who “found something wrong with every place she ever lived,” takes off to find herself, leaving her girls enough money to last a month or two. When Bean returns from school one day and sees a police car outside the house, she and Liz decide to take the bus to Virginia, where their Uncle Tinsley lives in the decaying mansion that’s been in Charlotte’s family for generations.
An impetuous optimist, Bean soon discovers who her father was, and hears many stories about why their mother left Virginia in the first place. Because money is tight, Liz and Bean start babysitting and doing office work for Jerry Maddox, foreman of the mill in town—a big man who bullies his workers, his tenants, his children, and his wife. Bean adores her whip-smart older sister—inventor of word games, reader of Edgar Allan Poe, nonconformist. But when school starts in the fall, it’s Bean who easily adjusts and makes friends, and Liz who becomes increasingly withdrawn. And then something happens to Liz.
An impetuous optimist, Bean soon discovers who her father was, and hears many stories about why their mother left Virginia in the first place. Because money is tight, Liz and Bean start babysitting and doing office work for Jerry Maddox, foreman of the mill in town—a big man who bullies his workers, his tenants, his children, and his wife. Bean adores her whip-smart older sister—inventor of word games, reader of Edgar Allan Poe, nonconformist. But when school starts in the fall, it’s Bean who easily adjusts and makes friends, and Liz who becomes increasingly withdrawn. And then something happens to Liz.
Our thoughts:
This is another great book by Jeannette Walls. I thoroughly enjoyed her previous novels, The Glass Castle and Half Broke Horses, and The Silver Star does not disappoint.
This is a compelling story of two young sisters who are neglected by their Mother. Without adult supervision and being young and naive, they become victims of abuse and experience first hand how unfair our justice system can be.
This is a wonderful look at the resiliency of spirit and how families, no matter how dysfunctional they may seem, can pull together in times of crisis. I loved this story and I think every family needs an Uncle Clarence.
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