Book 52 - Half Broke Horses
Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls
Book on Amazon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Jeannette Walls continues to trace the story of her dysfunctional family. This book starts with her grandmother's childhood, and details the no-nonsense strong woman she became. Though this is classified as fiction (mostly because it's written first person in the grandmother's voice, I believe), the events and stories are very believable and the narrative voice is strong, if not likable. Lily Casey Smith is very practical, too practical to give in to her emotions- but there are a few places where her tough outer shell cracks and you can see some of her softer moments. It also details her daughter Rosemary (Jeannette's mother)'s childhood, and how she grew up to marry a hard drinking nomad. The details of their life, and their children's lives, can be found in The Glass Castle which I read a few years back. Enjoyable book that makes me wonder about the roots of my own family's dysfunction.