Book Review: The Glass Castle

[dansesdesirene]

"When the rains finally came, the skies darkened and the air became heavy. Raindrops the size of marbles came pelting out of the sky. Some parents worried that their kids might get hit by lightning, but Mom and Dad never did, and they let us go out and play in the warm, driving water. We splashed and sang and danced. Great bolts of lightning cracked from the low-hanging clouds, and thunder shook the ground. We gasped over the most spectacular bolts, as if we were all watching a fireworks show. After the storm, Dad took us to arroyos, and we watched the flash floods come roaring through. The next day the saguaros and prickly pears were fat from drinking as much as they could, because they knew it might be a long, long time until the next rain." (from The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls)

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls was recommended to me a few years ago by a bookseller while I was looking through the Jodi Picoult display. Since then it's been a book on my to-read list, though not with high priority, until this month when it became the book club book.

And I'm glad it did, otherwise in all likelihood I never would have picked it up. The Glass Castle, told from Jeannette's point-of-view, is a memoir of her childhood as her family moved around in search of the gold that would give the family enough money to bring them out of poverty and that would allow her father Rex to build his masterpiece, the glass castle, which would become the family's home. Constantly doing "the skedaddle" the family moves from California, to Nevada, to Arizona among other places, living in houses and out in the desert.

While reading this book I was at times both frustrated and fascinated by the parents and amazed at the resilience of the children. It was an interesting look at a childhood I never could have imagined. Sad at times and touching at others it's a book that takes the readers along for the ride with the children. It's a quick read, I read it the day of the book club. I would highly recommend this book to others.