The Silver Star

A Novel

By: Jeannette Walls

Narrated by: Jeannette Walls

Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

From one of the best-selling memoirists of all time, a stunning and heartbreaking novel about an intrepid girl who challenges the injustice of the adult world - a triumph of imagination and storytelling.

It is 1970. "Bean" Holladay is 12 and her sister, Liz, is 15 when their artistic mother, Charlotte, a woman who flees every place she’s ever lived at the first sign of trouble," takes off to find herself." She leaves her girls enough money for food to last a month or two. But when Bean gets home from school one day and sees a police car outside the house, she and Liz board a bus from California to Virginia, where their widowed Uncle Tinsley lives in the decaying antebellum mansion that’s been in the family for generations.

An impetuous optimist, Bean discovers who her father was and learns many stories about why their mother left Virginia in the first place. Money is tight, so Liz and Bean start babysitting and doing office work for Jerry Maddox, foreman of the mill in town, a big man who bullies workers, tenants, and his wife. Bean adores her whip-smart older sister, inventor of word games, reader of Edgar Allan Poe, non-conformist. But when school starts in the fall, it’s Bean who easily adjusts and makes friends, and Liz who becomes increasingly withdrawn.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 in the car with Maddox.

The author of The Glass Castle, hyper-alert to abuse of adult power, has written a gorgeous, riveting, heartbreaking novel about triumph over adversity and about people who find a way to love the world despite its flaws and injustices.

©2013 Jeannette Walls (P)2013 Simon & Schuster

Always a Pleasure

Jeannette Walls books are always a pleasure to listen to. I love her narration and story lines are serious and fun at the same time.

A Bronze Star

Silver Star was a comfy read with a similar feel to Walls' Glass Castle, with a little less luster. Again there is the ditzy egocentric mother and the self-reliant young children, and Walls own southern-sweet voice giving life to young Bean and her sister Liz. Walls' brand of story telling is engaging and colorful, which makes for a pleasant read, and you can't help but find these girls and their quirky uncle endearing. But this is some tough territory in spite of its cuteness and "aww" moments. You are reading about child neglect and abuse wrapped up in a cute pretty package, so be prepared for a possible subconscious squirm ( I'm pretty sure Nancy G would back me up on this one--so back off Floyd). There are a lot of borrowed elements from Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird: Bean and Scout, an ominous man in town, a sexual assault, a courtroom scene, even birds--emus not mockingbirds, but that is where the similarities end. (Meg Wolitzer, author of The Interrestings, also noted these similarities in her NPR review.)

There were times Wall's chipper voice seemed incongruent with the events, for example: the girls, alone on a cross country bus, after fleeing the child welfare agents, finally escape a pervert that has been stalking them the entire trip. The passengers, who have silently observed this drama, sit back, applaud, then laugh at the site of the pervert stamping his feet and wringing his hands in the dust of the departing bus...I could hear the smile in Wall's voice, but couldn't connect to any humor, and if I had the courage (I'm going to get slaughtered here), I'd probably give this a 2 1/2 * rating overall. Even though Silver Star isn't as moving as Glass Castle, or as forgiving in its portrayal of a narcissistic, absentee mother, fans of Walls will probably appreciate the story and find it an entertaining, worthwhile listen. This was just an ok read for me, and likely due to my own frame of reference.

Just OK

I really wanted to like this book. It took me several tries, starting to listen to this book & abandoning it, to finally get interested enough to stay with it. I finally got far enough into it to get interested in the story & want to finish it. Narrator wasn't great - I think a better narrator would have helped. It was an OK story & I was rooting for the girls towards the end.

Best author around

Between Half Broke Horses, A Glass Castle, and now this book I couldn't tell you which is my favorite. Jeannette Walls is my go to author I love her!

Walls Doesn’t Disappoints

This is the third novel I’ve read from Walls, and it was great. Just like her other two. I really enjoy reading and listening to Walls read her novels. I can’t wait for her next novel.

Another great story from Walls

What did you like best about this story?

The characters are so well developed. I also loved Jeanette's narration.

Have you listened to any of Jeannette Walls’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

yes. It's as good as the others. I didn't want it to end.

Simple, yet gripping.

Walls is a natural story teller. I enjoyed every second, and was sad to see it end.

Great Story

This is the second book I read from Jeanette walls, and loved it from beginning to end.

Just alright

Although I am head over heals for Jeanette's other two novels, this book didn't really compare. The plot was somewhat similar to The Glass Castle but stayed pretty surface level. Not a bad read, but not something I'd read again.

Excellent story. characters are believable.

Relatable. Family is central to sanity, and the family "tribe" is fluid, changing and consistently inconsistent - sanity is likewise fluid ... the moral of the story is solid.