Monday, Jan 4, 2010

Book Review: Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls

Author: Jeannette Walls

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

ISBN #:   978-1416586289

Type:  Fiction:Memoir (See below)

Pages: 288 Hardback

Published:  October 6,  2009

Website:  Click HERE

Purchase:  $14.46-Hardcover/$9.99-Kindle (HERE) 

The Story

Lily Casey Smith is one tough cookie! Born in 1901 in the Southwest, she grew up in the most unconventional manner.  By age 5, Lily is learning to train horses and only a year later she is in charge of breaking them in.  She lives in the most unfortunate abode with mud floors and learns to make due.  Lily survives a tornado in these conditions, which in itself is rather remarkable.  By the age of 12, she is, in essence, operating a ranch and helping with the barns, the horses and ordering the ranch-hands about.  When she turns 15, she leaves the family home and travels 500 miles on horseback to Arizona (solo, by the way) to become an interim teacher.  She had not been able to finish her schooling that would enable her to secure a full-time position as a teacher.  Eventually, Lily’s stubborn and opinionated nature resulted in her inability to keep any one job for too long. 

Lily decides that she’s had enough of small town life and she wanted her chance at a big City, so she moves to Chicago.  Unable to find a job due to the influx of return World War I soldiers, she tries her hand at housekeeping.  Once again, her inability to be passive and take orders causes her to lose her job.  It is in Chicago that Lily meets, and loses, her best friend.  It is also here that she finds her first love and marries him only to discover that he’s already married (with children) to another woman across town.  Having not favored well in Chicago, she heads back to Arizona.  It is here that she builds her reputation of being a ”mustang-breaking, poker-playing, horse-race-winning schoolmarm of Coconino County.”

As Lily’s life is on the incline, she meets the John-Wayne-ish, steady Jim Smith.  After they marry, they run successful ranches and raise a family.  In that span of time, Lily accomplishes her dream of learning to fly an airplane.  She also completes her education so that she can become the teacher she always wanted to be.  Lily and Jim survive the Great Depression and earn extra income by selling alcohol in the time of Prohibition.

Lily’s infamous daughter  is Rosemary who is Jeanette Walls’ mother and a central character of the memoir The Glass Castle.   This book ends with Rosemary’s impetuous decisions, including her marriage to Rex, Walls’ father.  Lily and Rex do not see eye-to-eye, but they find a way to accept one another by the end of the story, which is the beginning of the story in The Glass Castle.

My Thoughts

I LOVED LOVED LOVED the memoir The Glass Castle.  When I found out that Jeannette Walls was writing another book that was tied to that story, I couldn’t wait.  Walls discovered a stronger voice in narrating the story from the voice of Lily.  Therefore, although this is a memoir, technically it is fiction… hence “a true-life novel.”  This was a good choice because, had she written it from her perspective, the reader may not find a good connection to Lily. 

Once I understand how this is written and why, I start my first book on my Amazon Kindle.  And, I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!  Did you know that you can set it to audible and it will read aloud to you?  It’s not quite an audio book, but it works great for me in the car while driving.  That feature, in addition to the dictionary functionality within the book text, makes this electronic reader FANTASTIC!  So, back to reading the book on my Kindle… it had a rather slow start for me.  If you’ve read The Glass Castle, you know that you are sucked in within the first 2 pages of the book.  Half Broke Horses does not grab the reader in a similar way.  It takes a while to get into the story and find your connection to Lily.  Once you do, it’s a rather good tale. 

There are some memorable moments in the book including her solo horseback ride to Arizona, her time in Chicago, and when she meets Rex.  Understanding how Lily raised Rosemary and knowing more about her childhood lends the reader some insight into why events occurred the way they did in The Glass Castle.

But, did I love it as much?

Unfortunately, no.

But, I did like it.

The Rating

On Sher’s “Out of Ten Scale,” I am giving Half Broke Horses a rating of 7 out of 10.  It’s hard to measure up to The Glass Castle as the writing was less engaging.  I enjoyed reading it for the mere knowledge of Rosemary’s family background.  This book also provides a decent snapshot of our recent American history.

Giving Thanks

I want to thank my brother and his wife for the very generous gift of the Amazon Kindle for my birthday.  I absolutely love it and have really enjoyed reading by it. 

FTC Disclosure:  I purchased this book directly from Amazon.com.  Clicking on the either the photo of the book cover or the link next to the purchase price stated above will bring you to my Amazon.com Affiliate page.  Also, clicking on the link to the Kindle and the photo of the Kindle will bring you to the same Amazon.com Affiliate page.  No purchases are necessary.

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