Jeannette Walls - The Glass Castle

review by Maggie Perkovich on show 3rd November
This is a very unusual book which tells the story of a very dysfunctual family so poor that many days they have nothing to eat at all. the parents are Rex and Rose Mary Walls, married in the 1950s and rearing their four children, Lori, Brian, Jeanette who is telling their story and little Maureen the last arrival. The parents are intelligent and far seeing but to settle to lifelong commitments in seeing their children fed and watered and clothed seemns beyond them. Many days there is no food in the house, the father sometimes works, or gambles, so they are either penniless and doing moonlight flits from the bailiffs and also the welfare people, or living very well for a few weeks until the money runs out. The mother, a frustrated artist who has trained as a teacher never seems to realise the need to settle down and care for her brood as she should. They
more or less rear themselves, but although this is a story where all yoyr sympathy is with the children,
the father somehow seems a charismatic character, full of fun at times, but when drunk is violent and
destructive. when the children finally grow older and make their very successful lives in New York the
parents follow them there, but still live their hippy irresponsible existence!!! tThe author never asks for pity, in fact she says their hard upbringing taught them how to cope in New York!!!A good read!!!!