A review by katiegilley
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

5.0

Walls is a journalist who works (worked?) for MSNBC.com - you might remember her working on the Daily Scoop. In The Glass Castle, she shares her challenging childhood: which included constant moving around, bouts of homelessness, and parents who loved their children endlessly, but didn't always make the best decisions.returnreturnHer father, Rex, was a brilliant mathmetician and engineer. However, he had a hard time putting the bottle down and was possibly abused as a child. Her mother, Rose Mary, was an artist with a rosy outlook on the world, but seemed to be suffering from a mental illness that went undiagnosed and untreated. Jeannette had 3 siblings: older sister Lori, younger brother Brian, and younger sister Maureen. Life for the Walls children was hard and they endured a lot.returnreturnThis was such a touching story. While I cringed at the decisions and mistakes made by the writer's parents, I was overwhelmed by the love in this family. You could see how much Rex loved his children, but it just ached to watch him go out and drink or how his paranoia affected their whole lives. It was also amazing how much the children loved for their parents, parents that many would write off as being plain neglectful and abusive. This was truly a story of unconditional love. 5 stars.