By Maya Ekladious
Do you think your family is crazy and has lots of drama? If yes, then you probably haven’t read about the Walls family. In The Glass Castle, join Jeanette Walls, the family’s second daughter, as she unpacks her childhood memories, including cooking hot dogs at the age of three, living off leftover lunches, being on fire and many more.
Throughout the book, Jeanette takes us through her unlikely journey to become a married woman, an Ivy League graduate and a New York Times best-selling author. While reading an assigned book can be one of the most dreaded moments for an English student, fear not because I hereby present to you a page-turner.
The book begins with a sneak peek at a conversation between Jeanette, a grown adult and her mom. In the discussion, the author tries to rescue her mom from the streets of New York; however, her mom denies the author’s attempts, saying that “being homeless is an adventure.”
As you flip to the third page with a burning curiosity to understand more about Jeanette’s conversation with her mom, the book quickly rewinds to Jeanette’s memories as a three-year-old.
But don’t let go of your enthusiasm just yet, because even as a three-year-old, the Walls family’s life never gets boring. The family is known for never having a permanent residence, continuously moving from one southwestern town to another, including the desert. The book also touches on alcoholism, rape, sexual assault, childhood trauma, parenting, homelessness and many more throughout their journey.
During their childhood, Jeanette and her three siblings: Lori, Brian and Maureen, have always had a rollercoaster-like relationship with their parents. And while the children didn’t go to school much, they were pretty good at using their dad’s pistol by the young age of four. However, when they did occasionally attend school, the Walls children were always surprisingly ahead of their classmates.
Jeanette was the closest one to her father, and while Jeanette accomplished many of her dreams and goals, one she failed to achieve was putting an end to her father’s alcoholism.
When he was not drunk, Rex, the dad, drew designs and made plans to build a glass castle or helped Jeanette edit her newspaper articles and argued over dictionary definitions. However, when he got drunk, he would chase his wife in the desert and throw Jeanette’s fractious cat out the car window.
While readers will view the Walls children’s lives as a rocky mountain or a dark tunnel with no light at the end, Walls was convinced that her life is full of triumphant adventures. When reading this book, you’ll be flipping through some pages with outrage, passion and fear and in rare occurrences, you’ll have an uncontrollable smile on your face. The book raises countless questions, and I guarantee you that you will never be the same after turning that last page.
