Book Review: THE RUST MAIDENS by Gwendolyn Kiste

THE RUST MAIDENS by Gwendolyn Kiste (Trepidatio Publishing, November 2018)  Paperback, 252 pages.  ISBN # 1947654446 / 9781947654440  

 

Summary from the Goodreads website . . . . .

 

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. 

 

 

My review on the Goodreads website . . . . .

 

As industries declined in Rust Belt cities during the 1980’s, what happened to the neighborhoods populated by factory workers and what effect did the decline have on them?  The close-knit community living on Denton Street on Cleveland, Ohio’s west side experience that in the summer of 1980 and it changes them in profound ways. Facing an uncertain future, main character Phoebe Shaw and her close friends question their path forward when they should be engaged in joyous celebration of high school graduation. Upon notice of the closing of the local steel mill, the neighborhood is faced with an uncertain future. The decay and deterioration suddenly manifests in strange physical symptoms among five young girls, friends and acquaintances of Phoebe Shaw who is unaffected.  This is a powerful novel with fully realized characters of varying moral values and points of view - - all wonderfully depicted by Kiste who has a remarkable empathy for all varieties of humans - - male, female, young, old, blue collar, white collar, alcoholics, holy rollers, abusive personalities - - she nails her depictions of them all. 

 

   The Rust Maidens could easily serve as a straight work of fiction without the horror elements, a coming-of-age story that is specific to young women and the changes and challenges that confront them. However, Kiste has combined those elements with the horrific nature of the physical decline of the girls and juxtaposed the former with the latter in such a way that they are intertwined to make a complete tale. Make no mistake. This remains a horror novel, albeit literary horror of premium quality.  It is body horror, a helpless physical change that is more disturbing than any monster or slasher. 

 

  After several chapters into the story, I had a sense that not all the events in the story were going to correct themselves or result in a totally happy outcome. In addition, Kiste’s remarkable ability to evoke in readers the same feelings that her characters are experiencing kept me riveted to the story.  It’s nearly impossible not to feel sad and empathize with these characters, especially the incredible compassion of Phoebe. Throughout the reading of this novel, I became sad, depressed, and apprehensive along with these characters. That did not prevent me from reading to the end, which results in a small, but positive note.  A powerful novel that deserves a wide audience.