Rust & Stardust

Rust & Stardust is a fictional portrayal of the 1948 kidnapping of Sally Horner, the event that inspired Nabokov's infamous novel Lolita. Sally attempts to shoplift a notebook from Woolworth's to join the “secret sisterhood” of some girls in her class, but she is caught by an older man claiming to be an FBI agent. 11-year-old Sally has no idea the man (Frank LaSalle) is actually a sexual predator recently released from prison, and she obeys his command to go away with him to avoid being sent to jail. For the next two years, Frank drags Sally across the country as her family works with law enforcement to find her.
T. Greenwood brings the story of this harrowing crime to life with attention to historical accuracy as well as imaginative fictional characters to fill in some of the blanks. While of course the story is disturbing and hard to read at times due to the nature of the crime, the care shown to Sally by people she encounters along her journey helps to restore the reader's faith in humanity. Rust & Stardust is a powerful and heartbreaking illustration of the impact one event and one person can have on so many lives.