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Rust
An article in a random travel magazine - about coyotes freely roaming the banks of the Rio Grande right in the middle of the city of Albuquerque - compels talented but socially-isolated artist Margaret Shaw to pack up and move from New York City to New Mexico. She quickly settles into a Chicano/Mexican barrio near the river, spending long days at local junkyards attempting to satisfy another recent obsession - her determination to mover her art from two dimensions to three. As she collects rusty parts from obsolete machinery, she imagines welding them into sculptures, and she never looks back at the sorrowful past she left behind in the east.
Her new life takes an unexpected turn when she meets Rico Garcia, a car mechanic known locally as "El Rey," the king of low rider welders, and impulsively asks him to teach her to weld. Unlike Margaret, whose lifestyle is completely solitary, Rico lives with his wife, three daughters, a grandaughter and his mother. There is no common ground between the two, but once they begin welding lessons at Rico's shop, a deep, instantaneous friendships sparks, igniting intense, chaotic self-reflection and driving them both to confront the damage they have suffered in their individual pasts.
Against this backdrop of emotional unpredictability, Margaret and Rico embark on an odyssey, both grounded and mystical, that carries them through the silent, wide open spaces of the high desert to the edge of healing, and perhaps beyond.
Her new life takes an unexpected turn when she meets Rico Garcia, a car mechanic known locally as "El Rey," the king of low rider welders, and impulsively asks him to teach her to weld. Unlike Margaret, whose lifestyle is completely solitary, Rico lives with his wife, three daughters, a grandaughter and his mother. There is no common ground between the two, but once they begin welding lessons at Rico's shop, a deep, instantaneous friendships sparks, igniting intense, chaotic self-reflection and driving them both to confront the damage they have suffered in their individual pasts.
Against this backdrop of emotional unpredictability, Margaret and Rico embark on an odyssey, both grounded and mystical, that carries them through the silent, wide open spaces of the high desert to the edge of healing, and perhaps beyond.
293 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2012
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143 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
October 29, 2022
1.5 Stars for Rust (audiobook) by Julie Mars read by Teri Schnaubelt.
I was excited about the premise of this story but it was really a letdown for me. There was just so much wrong about the welding lessons and I can’t stand this almost romance where the guy is cheating on his wife. There was just way too much going on in the story. The multiple timelines and the surprise ending that was bizarrely convenient. The book could have been so much better if the author had gotten some welding lessons and had stuck to a romance instead of reuniting father and daughter.
I was excited about the premise of this story but it was really a letdown for me. There was just so much wrong about the welding lessons and I can’t stand this almost romance where the guy is cheating on his wife. There was just way too much going on in the story. The multiple timelines and the surprise ending that was bizarrely convenient. The book could have been so much better if the author had gotten some welding lessons and had stuck to a romance instead of reuniting father and daughter.
May 25, 2012
It may just be that what I've read recently has been so depressingly unoriginal, but this book felt like cool, sweet water. Not a perfect book, but some delicious writing and an original plot line. If you believe that magical things do, occasionally, happen, in ordinary life--things that are "meant to be"--you might enjoy reading this book.
December 30, 2021
I rarely give a book 5 stars, but this was a homerun for me.
After having read over the past several years a slew of books which have interchangeable plots and one dimensional characters and unbelievable motivations, listening to this book was akin to a cool drink of water in a vast wasteland.
Margaret Shaw, a talented but socially isolated artists reads an article in a travel magazine about coyotes in New Mexico freely roaming the banks of the Rio Grande River, and decides to pack it up and move from NYC to New Mexico. At first glance, this didn't sound like much of a plot, since I see coyotes weekly in my Chicagoland suburb, but I remember reading one of Mars' books years ago and remembered how much I enjoyed it "Anybody Any Minute." Mars' writing is better than anything I've read in the past several years.
I only hope she has another novel or a book of short stories she will put to paper someday.
5 stars also for the narrator Terri Schnaubelt
After having read over the past several years a slew of books which have interchangeable plots and one dimensional characters and unbelievable motivations, listening to this book was akin to a cool drink of water in a vast wasteland.
Margaret Shaw, a talented but socially isolated artists reads an article in a travel magazine about coyotes in New Mexico freely roaming the banks of the Rio Grande River, and decides to pack it up and move from NYC to New Mexico. At first glance, this didn't sound like much of a plot, since I see coyotes weekly in my Chicagoland suburb, but I remember reading one of Mars' books years ago and remembered how much I enjoyed it "Anybody Any Minute." Mars' writing is better than anything I've read in the past several years.
I only hope she has another novel or a book of short stories she will put to paper someday.
5 stars also for the narrator Terri Schnaubelt
January 17, 2016
I can't finish it. And it's not that the story is starting to feel suspiciously like a Harlequin Romance. It's the heavy handed symbolism and motifs of fire and passion. There's also a heck of a lot of telling rather than showing. Ultimately the story and the characters themselves just aren't that substantial. The high ratings and reviews truly are a mystery to me.
April 30, 2015
It has beautiful descriptions of New Mexico but the plot seemed to drag on
January 11, 2019
The premise of the book caught me by surprise when I read it, in that I was surprised it intrigued me. I was a bit worried initially that it was going to turn into some sort of illicit romance, but while the characters had those feelings, they drew boundaries and apologized if they over stepped them. The friendship and connection between Rico and Margaret is the driving force of the story, and how their growth and confrontation with the past is developed beautifully. A solid weekend type read that just hit me at the right time in my life.
May 27, 2012
Didn't love it - didn't finish it. I think I'm the only one (based on reviews) who didn't love it. If a character if going to have an affair - it has to be believable - the male character's (I forget his name) first spoken line to the female character made me dislike him immensely and immediately. I couldn't get over that.
September 21, 2025
3.5 stars. I love New Mexico so the setting was appealing to me and I was not disappointed when my favorite spots were included in the story. It was a bit of a predictable story but still enjoyable. I would have appreciated a narrator who pronounced Spanish a bit better.
October 13, 2019
Mars is a keen observer of life's details which are poetically told. The characters are human but compex. They think. And they ponder life's details as well as concepts like fate and the nature of love.
The desert/river setting is intriguing and beautifully described.
I enjoyed this bittersweet story. It has a positive undercurrent mainly due to the compassion of its characters.
The desert/river setting is intriguing and beautifully described.
I enjoyed this bittersweet story. It has a positive undercurrent mainly due to the compassion of its characters.
July 9, 2012
Smoothly written with just enough tension to keep you turning the pages. Mars knows how to bring out the complexity of human relationships. Set in New Mexico with great imagery. I will be reading her other books as well!
December 30, 2013
Great story...
November 18, 2025
I have so much to say about the symbolic juxtapositions in the novel: white versus dark, wife versus possible lover, old versus new, White versus Latina. All to possibly justify a man cheating on his wife. He is cast as the benevolent patient husband who holds out on cheating while judging his wife of 2 decades for pretty much the same crime (almost cheating, but not going through with it). And then he flaunts his desire for another woman in her face, and acts as though she needs to be alright with it because of her previous “crimes“. While I initially thought him to be patient with his wife, I realized that he was a passive-aggressive man, looking for an excuse to cheat. He had previously not found one, and the instant he did, he tried to gaslight his wife into believing he was attempting to work on their relationship.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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January 12, 2023Margaret deja Nueva York para irse a vivir a Albuquerque, un sitio muy opuesto a donde ha vivido, a la vida como pintora que ha tenido. Ahí conoce a Rico, un soldador mexico-americano y a su familia, quien le enseña a soldar y le abre las puertas de su familia. Margaret perdió a su familia en su niñez y la novela cuenta también el periplo por la India que hicieron sus padres y cómo se reencuentran ella y su papá. El uso de algunas frases en español puede hacer ruido a hablantes nativos de esta lengua, construcciones como "Helena mi madre", en las que el artículo posesivo se utiliza junto con el sustantivo como un vocativo compuesto (que puede ser porque sea así en el spanglish que usan en área o por la autora).
October 3, 2023
I liked this story very much. At the same time, it felt a little too contrived to win over my unbridled appreciation. Also, the narrator annoyed me because she could have done a better job of learning how to pronounce the handful of Spanish words in the text. But overall, it was a decent read and very cleverly devised to tell the story the writer wanted to tell. And it ended very satisfactorily, altho it was telescoped a mile away, it was still nice to see it all play out.
January 7, 2024
Probably won’t recommend it because of the language and sexual content. However, this book really spoke to me and the characters felt very real and the problems felt very real. There is sadness, humor, heartache and peace. It really got me thinking and pondering the challenges of life. It felt very well written.
September 28, 2023
A quiet delight of a story of lost and found creativity, lost and found human contact on the boundaries of undulating, overlapping destinies. Sometimes when we find our place, we help others find theirs.
April 28, 2024
It is a sweet story of encounters with other people, with family, with one's self.
The final coincidences were a bit much for my taste, yet enjoyable.
The scenery presented put me to daydreaming, and i hope to see it live at some point.
The final coincidences were a bit much for my taste, yet enjoyable.
The scenery presented put me to daydreaming, and i hope to see it live at some point.
October 12, 2025
I liked this story. I love that Rico and his wife realized what they both were missing. But it also tells the hard truths that marriage required hard work and dedication. Meeting both each others needs.
July 13, 2017
Wonderful story about losing and finding. Beautiful descriptions of conflicting feelings, love, New Mexico, and family.
November 6, 2018
Loved this beautifully written story. Original, quiet, contemplative, loving, and rich. Highly recommend it!
January 3, 2019
Well written and good characters, but I felt it was too long for story told.
July 28, 2022
Simply stunning.
January 29, 2023
Oh what a beautiful story. The descriptiveness took my breath away. I have not been moved by a book like this for a very long time. And this is my first review. So sad it is over!
February 14, 2024
A beautiful story about a part of the US I am not very familiar with, but I enjoyed picturing it in my mind's eye...thanks to Julie Mars' words.
October 9, 2024
Take a few days out and read this literary work. The characters are well developed and the interpersonal plot captivating.
March 18, 2025
Lovely sweet book.
October 3, 2025
Slow, boring, wandering…I got to 50 pages and was struggling to keep going.
November 29, 2011
Rust – Julie Mars
I highly recommend Rust by Julie Mars. Rust is a beautifully written novel that will take the reader on an inspirational, emotional, and satisfying adventure. This review is based on an advanced readers copy that I received from Goodreads First Reads
My curiosity about this book was peaked by the first line of the novel’s description: “An article in a random travel magazine - about coyotes freely roaming the banks of the Rio Grande right in the middle of the city of Albuquerque - compels talented but socially-isolated artist Margaret Shaw to pack up and move from New York City to New Mexico.” I was envying the freedom and courage it would take to do that.
Margaret is a unique character and Julie Mars does an excellent job making Margaret come to life. She has no family, a hurtful past, and is living as a bartender/artist in New York City before she sees the magazine article about the coyotes that draws her to move to Albuquerque. She has a vision to create a sculpture that consists of various pieces of metals welded together. Her need to learn about welding is how she meets Rico, a car mechanic with a talent for low rider welding. Her relationship with Rico is colorful and complex.
I was slowly drawn into Margaret and Rico’s lives. Julie Mars weaves the two characters’ story lines together, along with a third character, which kept my interest right to the satisfying end. I also loved the visual descriptions of New Mexico – very poetic in nature. The characters were full of life and interesting. Their stories were told in such a way that I was inside their heads.
I would like to thank the publisher and Goodreads for the ARC. The ARC itself has a beautiful cover and was high quality. I normally am an ebook reader, but the feel and quality of the book and the pretty cover made reading the non-ebook version enjoyable.
I highly recommend Rust by Julie Mars. Rust is a beautifully written novel that will take the reader on an inspirational, emotional, and satisfying adventure. This review is based on an advanced readers copy that I received from Goodreads First Reads
My curiosity about this book was peaked by the first line of the novel’s description: “An article in a random travel magazine - about coyotes freely roaming the banks of the Rio Grande right in the middle of the city of Albuquerque - compels talented but socially-isolated artist Margaret Shaw to pack up and move from New York City to New Mexico.” I was envying the freedom and courage it would take to do that.
Margaret is a unique character and Julie Mars does an excellent job making Margaret come to life. She has no family, a hurtful past, and is living as a bartender/artist in New York City before she sees the magazine article about the coyotes that draws her to move to Albuquerque. She has a vision to create a sculpture that consists of various pieces of metals welded together. Her need to learn about welding is how she meets Rico, a car mechanic with a talent for low rider welding. Her relationship with Rico is colorful and complex.
I was slowly drawn into Margaret and Rico’s lives. Julie Mars weaves the two characters’ story lines together, along with a third character, which kept my interest right to the satisfying end. I also loved the visual descriptions of New Mexico – very poetic in nature. The characters were full of life and interesting. Their stories were told in such a way that I was inside their heads.
I would like to thank the publisher and Goodreads for the ARC. The ARC itself has a beautiful cover and was high quality. I normally am an ebook reader, but the feel and quality of the book and the pretty cover made reading the non-ebook version enjoyable.
December 19, 2012
"Rust" is the story of artist Margaret Shaw, New York City born and bred, who picks up her life and moves to New Mexico for the flimsiest of reasons: she saw a line in a travel article that piqued her curiosity.
Riddled with issues, Margaret has channeled her doubt, feelings of abandonment and frustration into art. Now she has decided it is time to move her creative vision from the two dimensions of canvas to the depth and realism of sculpture. She wants to learn to weld.
Upon arrival in New Mexico, Margaret befriends Rico Garcia, "El Rey," known for his own welding artistry with low-rider vehicles, and she hires him as her teacher. But Garcia, a neighborhood garage owner, has the same issues of frustration and doubt, and he, too, wrestles with abandonment.
Their chemistry collides, and the two walk a tightrope of sexual tension as they confront their individual demons.
Throughout the book, their journey is mirrored by that of another, whose story is separated by thousands of miles and spans several decades, even as both Margaret and Rico have navigated rough seas of their own. The destinies of all three characters perform an interesting dance toward a climax that is wholly satisfying without being saccharin.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, though I felt the sexual tension between Margaret and Rico was forced. To me, his other relationships were almost palpable, and I found Rico a far more interesting, complex character than Margaret.
In addition, the book's third protagonist, whose identity is gradually revealed, was a character with wonderful depth and dimension. I find it interesting that I cared more about the two of them than Margaret, who served more as a catalyst for others than as a main character in and of herself.
I received this book as part of the Early Reviewers program on LibraryThing.com.
Riddled with issues, Margaret has channeled her doubt, feelings of abandonment and frustration into art. Now she has decided it is time to move her creative vision from the two dimensions of canvas to the depth and realism of sculpture. She wants to learn to weld.
Upon arrival in New Mexico, Margaret befriends Rico Garcia, "El Rey," known for his own welding artistry with low-rider vehicles, and she hires him as her teacher. But Garcia, a neighborhood garage owner, has the same issues of frustration and doubt, and he, too, wrestles with abandonment.
Their chemistry collides, and the two walk a tightrope of sexual tension as they confront their individual demons.
Throughout the book, their journey is mirrored by that of another, whose story is separated by thousands of miles and spans several decades, even as both Margaret and Rico have navigated rough seas of their own. The destinies of all three characters perform an interesting dance toward a climax that is wholly satisfying without being saccharin.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, though I felt the sexual tension between Margaret and Rico was forced. To me, his other relationships were almost palpable, and I found Rico a far more interesting, complex character than Margaret.
In addition, the book's third protagonist, whose identity is gradually revealed, was a character with wonderful depth and dimension. I find it interesting that I cared more about the two of them than Margaret, who served more as a catalyst for others than as a main character in and of herself.
I received this book as part of the Early Reviewers program on LibraryThing.com.
January 20, 2012
Filled with rich imagery of land, art and people, Julie Mars’ Rust is a keenly observed and beautifully told tale of human relationships. The rust of hurt and neglect coating her characters is wonderfully reflected in scrap metal as artist, Margaret Shaw, seeks new materials for her sculpture. But pieces alone lie in two dimensions on the floor, and the New York artist, now living in New Mexico’s dusty territory, needs the help of a skilled welder before she can build on what she’s found. Meanwhile the welder needs an artist to show him hope in things lost.
“Do you believe in destiny” one character asks—the destiny of happenstance, or that of a woman wandering a scrap-yard, knowing by her artistry which shapes are bound to her dream? The welder teaches metal, and relationships teach hope, while history adds its third dimension to bring one final story into place.
Margaret and Rico tread a tender path between spiritual dream and sexual desire. The scattered pieces of their lives lie tarnished and worn. Fire forges relationship and burns away the dross. Meanwhile the author weaves the whole into something greater than its parts. Destiny is fulfilled, beauty welded from dust by transforming flame. In the heat of New Mexico’s sunshine and desert of loss, hope and beauty are born.
The language is rich, backstory skillfully woven, dialog and motivation wholly believable and delightfully real. There’s a rightness about the way the story progresses, mirroring art. And particles of dust and rust just might be starlight after all.
Disclosure: I received a bound galley of this novel from the publisher, the Permanent Press, in exchange for an honest review.
“Do you believe in destiny” one character asks—the destiny of happenstance, or that of a woman wandering a scrap-yard, knowing by her artistry which shapes are bound to her dream? The welder teaches metal, and relationships teach hope, while history adds its third dimension to bring one final story into place.
Margaret and Rico tread a tender path between spiritual dream and sexual desire. The scattered pieces of their lives lie tarnished and worn. Fire forges relationship and burns away the dross. Meanwhile the author weaves the whole into something greater than its parts. Destiny is fulfilled, beauty welded from dust by transforming flame. In the heat of New Mexico’s sunshine and desert of loss, hope and beauty are born.
The language is rich, backstory skillfully woven, dialog and motivation wholly believable and delightfully real. There’s a rightness about the way the story progresses, mirroring art. And particles of dust and rust just might be starlight after all.
Disclosure: I received a bound galley of this novel from the publisher, the Permanent Press, in exchange for an honest review.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews