The Glass Castle Book Review

“The Glass Castle” is a memoir that is told through the eyes of Jeanette Walls. In this memoir, Jeanette describes the journey of her life with her difficult family. Jeanette gives the reader a look into a family that was once very dysfunctional and oddly vivid. In the memoir Jeanette talks about her dysfunctional parents, Rex and Rosemary Walls. When sober, Rex was initiative and very smart. He would teach the kids geology, physics, and how to live life the “right way.” He promised he would build the family a “Glass Castle”, where the could live happily forever. Otherwise, when he drank, he was very selfish, dishonest, and hostile. Her mother, Rosemary, didn’t want the responsibility of taking care of a family and just wanted to focus on her art. Throughout the book, it becomes clearly evident that Rosemary is mentally ill. The Walls children learn throughout the book to take care of themselves. They learned how to feed, clothe, protect, and provide for one another. After years of learning how to depend on themselves to survive, they all eventually find themselves living in New York. After some time, Rex and Rosemary followed their children to New York and chose to be homeless as their children thrived. “The Glass Castle” is a wonderful book that is surrounded by selfishness, love, and many ups and downs.