Book Review: The Glass Castle

The Glass Castle

by Jeannette Walls

2005

288 Pages

Synopsis from Goodreads

The Glass Castle is a remarkable memoir of resilience and redemption, and a revelatory look into a family at once deeply dysfunctional and uniquely vibrant. When sober, Jeannette's brilliant and charismatic father captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and how to embrace life fearlessly. But when he drank, he was dishonest and destructive. Her mother was a free spirit who abhorred the idea of domesticity and didn't want the responsibility of raising a family.

The Walls children learned to take care of themselves. They fed, clothed, and protected one another, and eventually found their way to New York. Their parents followed them, choosing to be homeless even as their children prospered.

The Glass Castle is truly astonishing--a memoir permeated by the intense love of a peculiar but loyal family.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

My Review

This was a very well-written book. Considering that it's a memoir, and that all the stories are in fact true, it's quite a shocking read. There are many stories of the author's childhood and upbringing that are generally unthinkable. It was interesting to read about how they moved from place to place, and how the children were forced to learn how to live on their own. The kids were definitely strong individuals, for having to live their nomadic lifestyle. I got frustrated by the parents' actions (or inactions) to certain situations. It boggles my mind that events like these, truly do happen around us. It was a good read, and made for really good discussion at our book club evening.