At one point in Kathleen Rooney’s bewitching new novel From Dust to Stardust, the iconic Hollywood flapper Doreen O’Dare says to an interviewer, “What I’ve figured out is that the minute you start trying to convince anybody of anything, you’re a dead duck. What you do instead is create an occasion for them to pretend, to feel joy at what seems enchanted. We make that enchantment real.” Their conversation has turned to the topics of fairies and her storied film career, but O’Dare could just as well be talking about the act of writing a novel—for that same sense of enchantment fills every page of Rooney’s book.
As the bestselling author of Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk, Rooney is a master of historical fiction that is both captivating in its details and whimsical in its ethos (a personal favorite is Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey, narrated in part by a taxidermied homing pigeon at the Smithsonian and inspired by true events of World War I). In From Dust to Stardust, the fictionalized actress Doreen O’Dare—inspired by real-life 1920s starlet Colleen Moore— reflects on her life of fame, fortune, a troubled romantic life and an ever-growing collection of miniatures, which end up in a meticulously designed, one-ton Fairy Castle on display at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry. That last bit is nonfiction: Colleen Moore’s Fairy Castle has been delighting visitors at the museum since 1949.
Although they are never seen, I love that the fairies in this novel exist just outside the edges of reality. O’Dare’s Irish grandmother teaches her about leaving offerings for the Good People (fairies) as a child, and when she makes the decision to follow her dreams to Hollywood, her grandmother reminds her that magical forces are at play there, too: “…in Ireland we speak of thin places, where the borders between our world and the next are narrow enough to leak a bit. Though I’m not yet sure what to make of it, so far this Los Angeles seems like a very thin place indeed.” As her Hollywood star rises, O’Dare will wonder whether or not the fairies had anything to do with it, though later on, when her marriage reaches a dangerous breaking point, the fairies are not there to save her. She must find the strength within herself to embark on the next chapter of her life and determine what the future holds.
Along with its more serious themes, this book is also filled with a sharp and period-appropriate sense of humor. Rooney demonstrates her signature wit throughout O’Dare’s first-person narration, making From Dust to Stardust a delight to read whatever the state of the actress’ personal affairs. Gossip at a Hollywood party runs “juicier than all the citrus in the hills,” and after the film industry moves from silent films to talkies, O’Dare observes, “the hush that followed the director’s cue was such that I could hear my costars’ hair growing.” When a would-be suitor fearfully pulls O’Dare from the sea after a harmless late-night dip, she offers this quip: “I enjoyed when men paid me little courtesies, such as caring whether I was dead.”
From one chapter to the next, From Dust to Stardust is structured like a “memory palace,” in which O’Dare recalls stories from her past after speaking about the various rooms and accoutrements of the Fair Castle to a staff member at the Museum of Science and Industry decades later. It’s an effective and entertaining lens through which we learn about the castle alongside the trials and triumphs of this Jazz Age starlet’s bold and intentional life. In addition to miniature housewares encrusted with real jewels and tiny antiquities that are hundreds or even thousands of years old, one of the most surprising treasures in the Fairy Castle is a sliver of wood in the chapel that is allegedly from the one true cross (from Jesus’ crucifixion). When asked if she believes it is real, O’Dare replies, “That’s the question that the chapel is meant to prompt, isn’t it? And I think the answer it suggests is that every object, like every moment, is brimming with hidden miracles awaiting those who would find them.”
Spending some time with Rooney’s enchanting and introspective new book may inspire you to uncover some of those hidden miracles within your own life. Or at the very least, it will pique your interest in looking up one of Colleen Moore’s classic flapper films, in those days when a black-and-white silent picture really was worth a thousand words.
From Dust to Stardust was published by Lake Union Publishing on September 5, 2023, and is available at your local independent bookstore or the publisher’s website. To learn more about Kathleen Rooney's inspirations and writing process for this book, check out our recent interview.
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