Jeannette Walls is back in top storytelling form after her bestselling memoir Glass Castles. Half Broke Horses is billed as a true-life novel in which Walls tells the tale of her tough-as-nails grandmother, Lily Casey, from a first person perspective, piecing together stories she has gathered from family and friends. Original photos bring the narrative to life.Lily grows up helping her crippled father raise carriage horses on a barely surviving ranch, taking on the hard work her gently raised mother is above doing. At the age of 15, after a brief stint of boarding school education, Lily obtains a teaching position in Arizona, 500 miles away from her home in New Mexico. To get to the job, she travels fearlessly for a full month alone on her horse over rough back country. This is just one of many adventures in Lily's full-tilt, no-nonsense life that moves back and forth between rough ranching and small town teaching during the Great Depression. Through it all, her positive attitude and ingenuity in the face of adversity make her a strong and likeable character.
Later in the book, we hear of the upbringing of Walls' mother Rose Mary. There's no need to have read Glass Castles to appreciate this story, but the insight into the hard living, fun loving personality of Rose Mary adds depth to the author's memoir. This is a gritty, fast-paced read that should not be missed.
Lorna Rhyins
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