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A review by _desreads
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
5.0
The Glass Castle is modern classic in the memoir genre, so not much intro is needed in the bookish world. Jeannette Walls relives her nomadic, broken, yet incredibly creative and endearing childhood. Centered around her father’s drinking habit and distrust for anything connected to the government and her mother’s need to be a creator and artist above all else, Jeannette and her three siblings travel across the country searching for a place to call home, yet always seem to find a reason to move on, usually without notice in the middle of the night. When they finally “settle” into a shack with no electricity or pumping in West Virginia, all of Jeannette’s experience with survival will be put to the test as her and her siblings try and not only find their next meal, but find a way out of this life.
Walls writes a gripping and, at many moments heartbreaking, retelling of her childhood and how she eventually became a successful writer in New York City. If you want a grid for comparison, I think it is a mix of Nowhere Girl, Educated and Fierce Attachments. Not a light read but one that will linger in your heart and invite you to reflect on how varied our pasts can be to bring us into who we are today.
Walls writes a gripping and, at many moments heartbreaking, retelling of her childhood and how she eventually became a successful writer in New York City. If you want a grid for comparison, I think it is a mix of Nowhere Girl, Educated and Fierce Attachments. Not a light read but one that will linger in your heart and invite you to reflect on how varied our pasts can be to bring us into who we are today.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Addiction, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, and Drug use