Cover of Star-Dust: A Story of an American Girl

Star-Dust: A Story of an American Girl

  • Free to read
  • 8 hours to read
  • 43 chapters
  • Reading level: 6th grade

"Star-Dust: A Story of an American Girl" by Fannie Hurst is a novel written in the early 20th century. The story centers around Lilly Becker, a young girl from a modest background embarking on the journey of adolescence, filled with aspirations of becoming a successful singer and navigating the complexities of social class, family dynamics, and self-identity. At the start of the novel, we are introduced to the vibrant world of Lilly Becker, who finds herself lost in musical daydreams as she practices the piano in her family's cramped boarding house. We see glimpses of her friendships, childhood rivalries, and interaction with her family, particularly with her mother, Mrs. Becker, who harbors ambitions for her daughter while managing the struggles of their middle-class life. The vivid details of Lilly's childhood and her aspirations foreshadow her coming challenges and growth as she seeks to carve out her identity in a world that often places limitations on young women. The opening chapters set the stage for a rich exploration of Lilly's character as she faces the pressures of expectations and seeks her place in society.

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Chapter I

THE VINE

Oh, the little more and how much it is:
And the little less, and what worlds away.
—BROWNING.

[Greek: Zoae]

When Lilly Becker eked out with one hand that most indomitable of pianoforte selections, Rubinstein's "Melody in F," her young mind had a habit of transcending itself into some such illusory realm as this: Springtime seen lacily through a phantasmagoria of song. A very floral sward. Fountains that tossed up coloratura bubbles of sheerest aria and a sort of Greek frieze of youth attitudinized toward herself.

This frieze was almost invariably composed of Estelle Foote, a successful rival in a class candidacy for the sponge-and-basin monitorship; Sydney Prothero, infallible of spitball aim; Miss Lare with her spectacles very low on her nose and a powdering of chalk dust down her black alpaca; Flora Kemble with infinitely fewer friendship bangles on her silver link bracelet; Roy Kemble, kissing her yellow, rather than yanking her brown, braids.

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Contents

Show all 43 chapters
  1. Book One
  2. Chapter I
  3. Chapter II
  4. Chapter III
  5. Chapter IV
  6. Chapter V
  7. Chapter VI
  8. Chapter VII
  9. Chapter VIII
  10. Chapter IX
  11. Chapter X
  12. Chapter XI
  13. Chapter XII
  14. Chapter XIII
  15. Chapter XIV
  16. Chapter XV
  17. Chapter XVI
  18. Chapter XVII
  19. Chapter XVIII
  20. Chapter XIX
  21. Chapter XX
  22. Chapter XXI
  23. Chapter XXII
  24. Chapter XXIII
  25. Book Two
  26. Chapter I
  27. Chapter II
  28. Chapter III
  29. Chapter IV
  30. Chapter V
  31. Chapter VI
  32. Chapter VII
  33. Chapter VIII
  34. Book Three
  35. Chapter I
  36. Chapter II
  37. Chapter III
  38. Chapter IV
  39. Chapter V
  40. Chapter VI
  41. Chapter VII
  42. Chapter VIII: Six hours later there was a reply folded in Lilly's purse
  43. Chapter IX
  44. Chapter X
  45. Chapter XI
  46. Chapter XII

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About this edition

This free edition of Star-Dust: A Story of an American Girl by Fannie Hurst comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #9858, released 2006-02-01. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Novels, American Literature.

Summary provided by Project Gutenberg (automatically generated).

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