The Glass Castle

I picked this book up on Saturday and could barely put it down all weekend.  Jeannette Walls is a successful journalist living in New York City today, but her memoir tells of a very difficult childhood.  Her father was very intelligent, but not very interested in working.  His beliefs were very anti-establishment and he refused to sacrifice his pride or his freedom to conform to an employer.  He also suffered from a bit of a “drinking situation” as their mother would say.  Their mother was an artist who was so impractical that she couldn’t see the value in preparing a meal for her four children.  Despite her lack of nurturing instincts, I could tell that there was genuine love between the family members.  When Jeannette was young the family moved frequently, and each new place represented hope for a better life.  Sadly they were usually homeless.  Eventually they moved back to the remote West Virginia town where their father was raised.  At this point the hope of moving to a better place disappeared, until Jeannette was a teenager and found her own way out. 

Even though Walls never condemns her parents’ choices, I personally became very frustrated with them as I read.  I do think that many of my students who come from dysfunctional or broken families will be able to relate to this story and will benefit from the message of hope and personal strength that it conveys.