The Rust Maidens

By: Gwendolyn Kiste

Narrated by: Melanie Carey

Something’s happening to the girls on Denton Street.

It’s the summer of 1980 in Cleveland, Ohio, and Phoebe Shaw and her best friend Jacqueline have just graduated high school, only to confront an ugly, uncertain future. Across the city, abandoned factories populate the skyline; meanwhile at the shore, one strong spark, and the Cuyahoga River might catch fire. But none of that compares to what’s happening in their own west side neighborhood. The girls Phoebe and Jacqueline have grown up with are changing. It starts with footprints of dark water on the sidewalk. Then, one by one, the girls’ bodies wither away, their fingernails turning to broken glass, and their bones exposed like corroded metal beneath their flesh.

As rumors spread about the grotesque transformations, soon everyone from nosy tourists to clinic doctors and government men start arriving on Denton Street, eager to catch sight of “the Rust Maidens” in metamorphosis. But even with all the onlookers, nobody can explain what’s happening or why - except perhaps the Rust Maidens themselves. Whispering in secret, they know more than they’re telling, and Phoebe realizes her former friends are quietly preparing for something that will tear their neighborhood apart.

Alternating between past and present, Phoebe struggles to unravel the mystery of the Rust Maidens - and her own unwitting role in the transformations - before she loses everything she’s held dear: her home, her best friend, and even perhaps her own body.

©2018 Gwendolyn Kiste (P)2019 Journalstone

A touching tale

A story about decay and what comes after. This one will stick with you for some time.

A beautiful book of secrets and monsters

Gwendolyn Kiste is one hell of a writer, and THE RUST MAIDENS is one hell of a book. Utterly original, full of heart and heartbreak, I've enjoyed this book three times since its release (twice in print, once with this audiobook), and I'm positive I'll be adding this recording to my re-listen rotation.

Highly recommended!

Amazing body horror married with urban rot!

Such a touching story. Phoebe ( protagonist) so wants to help and so wants to join the Rust Maidens. A wonderful portrait of the effects of urban decay on a neighborhood, a family, and an individual.

The narrator captured the voices of all the characters. Highly recommend.

sincere and melancholy

This is a well conceived story, that has thoughtful and insightful emotional struggle in its protagonist. Good for a different perspective on dealing with grief. though not a character I could relate to.

Hrm. Could have been really good, if not for all the navel gazing.

The author tried really hard, but ultimately failed, to craft a compelling story.
At first, the story is novel and unique and you want to see where it goes ..

Gradually, though, you realize that the main character is just a minor character who wants desperately to be important (or even significant).
She always complains about being wrong wrong wrong but never actually displays any wrong actions.

Supposedly the whole town hates her because somehow she has become responsible for the existence of the rust maidens, and in fact several different characters actually stand there and tell her "This is all your fault, Phoebe." And yet, Phoebe's actions were things that had pretty much almost nothing to do with the main story.

Basically, it felt like if the rust maidens were to cross the street, somehow all the blame is put on her as if 1. what the girls are doing is horrible and as if 2. she had any influence anyway.

After a while the narrator gets too into the "woe is me" voice and everything comes out sounding like a high-pitched Eeyore.

The narrator takes the whole transformation as her own personal fault and makes herself the center; as if what's happening is happening TO HER and BECAUSE OF HER specifically, and is all about her.

Phoebe is a minor character who thinks she's the main character, so we see everything that is happening from the outside and ultimately learn nothing significant or even interesting.