The Glass Castle

By Jeannette Walls

With this memoir, Jeannette Walls has invited us into her fascinating childhood, growing up in a family with creative, brilliant, yet dysfunctional parents.  The book opens with her memory of her dress catching on fire as she stood at the stove cooking hotdogs because her mother was too busy working on a painting to prepare lunch.  The shocking fact is that Jeannette was three years old at the time.  The scars from this accident remain with her today.  Time after time, I was amazed at the strength and spirit of this little girl and her three siblings as they were carted from place to place, often with no belongings and little to eat.  

Her mother was self- absorbed and free-spirited.  Her father was an alcoholic.  When there was money, it often went towards his drinking.  One experience the author recounts affected me deeply.

“One evening when Dad was away and we had nothing to eat and we were all sitting around the living room trying not to think of food, Mom kept disappearing under the blanket on the sofa bed.  At one point Brian looked over.

                     ‘Are you chewing something?’  he asked.

            ‘My teeth hurt,” Mom said, but she was getting all shifty-eyed, glancing around the room and avoiding our stares.  ‘It’s my bad gums.  I’m working my jaw to increase the circulation.’

   Brian yanked the covers back.  Lying on the mattress next to Mom was one of those huge family-sized Hershey chocolate bars, the shiny silver wrapper pulled back and torn away.  She’d already eaten half of it.”

The idea that a mother would starve her children while feeding herself is disturbing, as are many other experiences the author recalls.  What is amazing, though, is the resilience of these children.  As they grew up, they became quite resourceful, scavenging for food, saving money, and keeping each other safe.  That is why I enjoyed this book so much.  It was inspiring to read a true story of how a person can pull themselves out of deplorable circumstances and achieve contentment and success.  

 

                I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.