Is your summer reading list dwindling? If you are like me then you have already exhausted your supply of beach reads and are ready for something a little different. Introduce your bookshelf to the writings of Jeannette Walls to feed your literary appetite.  The Glass Castle is Jeannette Walls poignant childhood memoir and Half Broke Horses is a novel based on the life of her maternal grandmother. Both are truly satisfying reads.

The Glass Castle is an inspirational memoir

Jeannette Walls takes us into her childhood of grit, determination and resilience in her award winning memoir The Glass Castle (2005). Despite coming from a loyal, loving and intelligent family, the Walls’ four children are forced to sharpen their survival skills in order to overcome severe neglect from their parents and discrimination from outsiders. Banding together helps the siblings escape their home life, and enables them to move on from their dysfunctional childhood.

As Jeannette blossoms into an adult, she is forced to reconcile with the fact that though she and her siblings have offered to help their parents, Rosemary and Rex Walls choose to be homeless and live on the streets of New York to be close to their children.

Walls employs a touch of humour in her writing and she uses an incredible tone of tenderness when discussing her parents. This mixture of compassion and humour is what truly makes this story of survival stand out. The Glass Castle is a satisfying read that will leave you in awe of the resourcefulness and complexity of the Walls family.

Praise for Half Broke Horses: a true life novel

Half Broke Horses (2009) is the story of Jeannette Walls’ maternal grandmother, Lily Casey Smith. Information gathered and the recollections of Lily’s daughter, Rosemary Walls provide the basis of the story of a ranch woman, teacher and mother who possessed a lot of gumption. Though the author was left to fill in many of the details, she does so expertly. Jeannette Walls crafts authentic dialogue and reflects the atmosphere of a time when America was a dustbowl and the automobile was on the rise.

We first meet Lily as a young girl, in the process of saving her younger brother and sister from drowning in a flash flood. Growing up, Lily becomes indispensible as a junior ranch manager and horsewoman; these skills serve her well throughout her adventurous life.

After a sham of a first marriage to a bigamist, Lily finds her bliss as a schoolteacher and then marries for a second time. Lily Casey Smith has dreams of her family having land of their own, and to achieve her goal she finds ingenious ways of making money while raising her children.

Half Broke Horses is a tale based on the life of Lily Casey Smith, a fascinating woman. Jeannette Walls propels us into the past, showing us the stock she comes from: tough as nails, intelligent, sensible and feisty. A truly delightful book.

About the Author

Jeannette Walls is writer and journalist living in Virginia.