About the book, from the publisher:
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.Learn more about the book and author at Kathleen Rooney's website.
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.
The Page 99 Test: Live Nude Girl.
The Page 99 Test: For You, for You I Am Trilling These Songs.
My Book, The Movie: For You, for You I Am Trilling These Songs.
My Book, The Movie: Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk.
The Page 69 Test: Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey.
My Book, The Movie: Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey.
Writers Read: Kathleen Rooney (July 2022).
The Page 69 Test: Where Are the Snows.
Writers Read: Kathleen Rooney (September 2022).
--Marshal Zeringue