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Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel
Lily Casey Smith, this novel's feisty Texas protagonist, is a frontier teacher, a rancher, a rodeo rider, a poker player, and bootlegger. In Half Broke Horses, she survives droughts, tornados, floods, poverty, a bigamous husband, and whatever else fate can throw against her. Based on author Jeannette Walls's grandmother, Lily is a plausible character because she has a voic...more
Hardcover, Large Print, , 390 pages
Published
November 28th 2009
by Center Point Large Print
(first published January 1st 2009)
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Jeannette Walls's original intent was to write a book about her mother Rose Mary's childhood on an Arizona ranch. Rose Mary convinced her that it was grandmother Lily's life story that needed to be told. Having read the book, I have to agree. What a life! Hard times and hard work in the early 1900s, trying to scratch out a life on ranches in Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. Lily lived on Route 66 when it was still a dirt road.
Walls chose to call the book a novel because she got all...more
Walls chose to call the book a novel because she got all...more
I am in the midst of this read but I have to say as soon as I read the first page I was invested in what was to unfold. It was a real grabber of a opening.
I finished this book and enjoyed every moment of reading. It was so interesting. It covered many changes in the main characters life and it represented how most people will deal with what comes their way, with grace and acceptance. Very good book.
I finished this book and enjoyed every moment of reading. It was so interesting. It covered many changes in the main characters life and it represented how most people will deal with what comes their way, with grace and acceptance. Very good book.
If you've read The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, and wondered about Rosemary's lack of maternal instincts and caring, this book will help explain why she was the way she was. Told in first person, with Jeanette's grandmother, Lily, as the central character, the novel is strewn with facts and stories handed down through family members to Jeannette. Not as compelling as The Glass Castle, it is, nevertheless, a book well worth reading. Lily is a most unforgettable character, and the time fram...more
This is the second book I've read from Jeannette Walls, and for the second time I've really enjoyed her writing. The voice in this story is different from The Glass Castle but equally as engaging, and once again it's all true! It also inevitably makes you wonder (for those who've read the GC) how this story ties into the lives of author's parents, and why things turned out the way they did.
It's a great escape from the reality we live in now, with computers, text messaging, and the cr...more
It's a great escape from the reality we live in now, with computers, text messaging, and the cr...more
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A great story, just as in The Glass Castle. How could a mother and daughter be any different? To me, there were 2 "sins of omission" here--one, I really wish Walls would have put a map at the beginning of the book of the west where Lily lived because I'm not familiar with the distances and all the moves back and forth. The other, since it is a work of fiction based on her grandmother's life (vs. a biography) Walls could have extended the book by another 100 pages or so to really emp...more
Walls' latest novel skillfully blends her grandmother's rich history with the fascinating history of her day, taking us on a journey from the turn of the twentieth century to the post-WWII era. Readers get a thorough and compelling picture of what life was like for competent, hard-working cattle ranchers in the American southwest during the Dust Bowl days. Unflappable, grandmother Lily Casey Smith lived an adventurous life: a young woman growing up on ranches in wide open spaces (and at variou...more
I wish Jeannette Walls' biography/novel 'Half Broke Horses' had been available prior to her own biography 'The Glass Castle'. Both of the stories are related and rivetting but 'Half Broke Horses' provides the background for Jeannette's bizarre upbringing. This account of her grand-mother's life living on ranches in west Texas, New Mexico and Arizona is a wonderful tribute to a 'pioneer' who isn't afraid of hard labor--she's one spunky, admirable woman and a real survivor.
It would be difficult not to like the writing style of Jeannette Walls. Elegant and down to earth at the same time, she has the ability to strike a chord of familiarity in the reader. She makes it easy to let yourself become a part of the story and to visualize the characters within their element. Loved this story. It’s the simple things in life that can sometimes lead to extraordinary story telling. Ms. Walls gets a four on the GR scale because of her ability to tell a great tale. And for...more
Not as compelling as "Glass Castle," but this definitely grew on me half-way through. Once you realize that it's not another autobiography (oops) of Walls, you'll probably be disappointed. This is a short-ish read of the life of her mother's mother, Lilly. Walls put together a first-person story of her unique grandmother who lived her hard life on a ranch. Although Walls might have captured the essence of her grandmother, this does not come close to her own memoir. She should stic...more
I am surprisingly enjoying this book that I picked up as a plane-trip book at the Chicago airport. Having heard of the author, it was a whim to read this, her latest memoir/novel featuring thoughts and memories of her grandmother, great grandmother and mother. It's an exceptionally heartwarming read full of pioneer stories and characters.
Nonfiction with a splash of fiction served on the rocks is a cool drink of pure narration delivered by a spunky horsewoman/school teacher who doesn't give up on finding how and where she belongs. This one is even better than "The Glass Castle" by the same author.
I really enjoyed this book, it gave you quite an image of what life was like in the rural West back in the early 1900's. And it totally makes me want to re-read the Glass Castle! (No, you don't need to have read it before you read this.)
Half Broke Horses[return]A True-Life Novel[return]by Jeannette Walls[return]Scribner [return]October 2009, 272 p.[return]978-1-4165-86289[return][return]Walls is shaping up to be one of this decades most fascinating storytellers. The adventures of her family in The Glass Castle were mesmerizing and truly an unforgettable read. With a pen that glows with brilliance, her writing in Half Broke Horses is bedazzling. In her words, this is the true life novel of her grandmother, Lily Casey Smith wh...more
Brooke
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Picked this up at the airport and blew through 100 pages same day. I am loving the main character so far, her voice cam through loud and clear.
This was definitely the right read at the right time kind of book. Also enjoyed having read the Glass Castle, I had a perspective of how Rosemary's life would turn out and such a contrast in the way her mother raised her vs. how she raised her daughter.
Well worth purchasing in paperback, I see myself lending this out to lots of...more
This was definitely the right read at the right time kind of book. Also enjoyed having read the Glass Castle, I had a perspective of how Rosemary's life would turn out and such a contrast in the way her mother raised her vs. how she raised her daughter.
Well worth purchasing in paperback, I see myself lending this out to lots of...more
I was so interested in this novel that I kept forgetting that parts of it were made up since Walls admitted that she never spoke to her grandmother, and as a result there was a lot of fictionalization, but ”Half Broke Horses” is still full of fascinating details about the American Southwest and life in the West between the beginning of the 20th century and the 1950s. The difficulty of ranching life was told in a brutally honest and unflinching way.
I loved that Lily never feels sorry...more
I loved that Lily never feels sorry...more
Jessica
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Recommends it for:
People who like to read memoirs about adventures when they could be out creating their own.
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All the people blabbing on about Jeannette Walls
I listened to this as an audiobook but I did not finish it. I don't want to simply list my complaints which is what I feel like doing, so I will try to avoid that. I had a hard time listening to this audiobook because the author reads her own work and her voice strikes a chord in me that makes me cringe and want to stab at my eardrums with an ice pick. However, I continued listening because everyone seems to love Jeannette Walls. While I found the father to be an interesting character, he did no...more
I really enjoy Jeannette Walls writing and I enjoyed the stories of her grandmother. I was interested to read this book to get an insight into how the life of Jeannette Walls in the Glass Castle could possibly happen. Her grandmother was a strong, opinionated woman and I can only think that her daughter rebelled against that but the lack of putting food on the table had to be all Rosemary's. The stories gave insight into a time of our history that has been covered in many different ways but I...more
This follow-up to Jeannette Walls's popular autobiography, The Glass Castle, moves backward in time and adopts a creative tack in telling the story of Walls's grandmother, Lily Casey Smith. Walls begins with Lily's childhood, working on a dusty ranch in west Texas -- but that's not the creative part. What's interesting in the form of this book is that the entire story is told in the first person, from the view of Walls's long-dead grandmother (hence the book's dual classification by Walls as fic...more
The author intended to write a story about her mother growing up on a ranch in Arizona. Her mother insisted that her grandmother, Lilly, was really the person who had led the more interesting life. After listening to her mother’s stories about her amazing grandmother, the author realized that her mother was right and chose to tell this story about her grandmother’s life.
The theme of the book is not clearly identified. As the story goes on it is simply describing the events in the c...more
The theme of the book is not clearly identified. As the story goes on it is simply describing the events in the c...more
After reading the Glass Castle I wanted to follow up with this, to see where poor Jeannette's mom had come from. It reminded me quite a lot of "These is My Words". Lily's strength and gumption, her work ethic, are all astounding. I haven't worked as hard in 31 years as she did in a week, I don't think. I really enjoyed the book, but the parts about the "Mormons" really bothered me. Those polygamists that she was teaching were NOT Mormons. They might have called themselves Mor...more
Having appreciated--enjoyed is not quite the right word--Jeannette Walls' first book, I was interested to see how she treated the story of her maternal grandmother's life. Lily is a feisty, strong and strong-willed young girl, and those traits stay with her as she matures. Growing up in rural west Texas and New Mexico in the early part of the 20th century, Lily is tested in ways most of us can only dream of. The possibility that Walls may have exaggerated some of her grandmother's exploits an...more
Jeannette Walls tells her grandmother, Lily's story in Lily's own words. This is the story of the Mother of Rosemary. Rosemary's story was told in The Glass Castle. I previously read The Glass Castle and it seems to me that Jeannette Walls voice is a little different in Horses. This story reads almost like a Paul Bunyan exaggeration. I think that it is probably close to the truth. Jeannette got the stories from her mother, Rosemary, in order to paint a picture of Lily's life. Lily's life w...more
Since I had read Walls' book, The Glass Castle, I wanted to read this book. It was meant to explain why her mother, a teetotaller, stayed with her alcoholic husband and seemed to enjoy the life of a vagabond and eventually a homeless person. As Walls tried to write the story, she realized she wanted to write about the stories her mother told about Walls' grandmother, Lily Casey Smith. She wrote the story in the first person and felt it had to be called a novel rather than a memoir since she b...more
People, read this book. It was one of those books I was sad to have end. I LOVE that! That's the best...This is the second "biography" from Jeannette Walls about her crazy, engaging family. They were freaking LOONS, but you still loved them. If I was starting fresh with Jeannette Walls and I knew better, I would read this book about the writer's grandmother before I read what was her first book, The Glass Castle, which was about Jeannette's upbringing and her crazier than crazy mot...more
A perfect "prequel" to "Glass Castle" by the same author. It's uncanny the way the author pegs each of her characters so they seem entirely consistent without being predictable. There were many times while reading this book when I wished I had known Lily, and then times when I figured I’d be half-scared of her and glad I didn’t. Knowing that the stories of Lily were true took them from amazing to inspiring. Of course, the back cover comparing the book to my two favorites ...more
This book is just great. The author bases a novel on stories she has always known about her grandmother, Lily Casey Smith. Lily was born in a home with a dirt floor in 1901. She grows up dirt poor, survives the depression, survives life on a ranch, life as a bootlegger, and life in general. I love this book. Lily takes every adversity and turns it into a life lesson. It's fun, it's inspirational, and it's an adventure. I also love Jeannette Walls's style. It's like Lily is having a one o...more
I loved The Glass Castle chronicling her childhood. THis is the story of her grandmother, Lily Casey Smith. Because she had to invent the dialog of a woman from before her own birth, this is a novel, but I gather the story itself is basically true. If so, it is very interesting and it is certainly a real page turner. We see her hard scrabble upbringing on ranches, or ranchettes, in New Mexico, Arizona, and far west Texas. Lily is a tough and competent woman, but one who also reads and organ...more
At times while reading Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls, readers might question whether they picked up the book from the fiction or non-fiction area. This true but embellished account of narrator Lily Casey Smith’s hardscrabble life at times reads like straight fiction, unlike Walls’ popular memoir A Glass Castle. Reminiscent of the dust bowl scenes of some of John Steinbeck’s work, Half Broke Horses follows the adventures and tragedies of Lily Casey, born in a dusty dugout in West Texas t...more
Without question Jeannette Walls' grandmother Lily Casey Smith lived an interesting, bygone life. Helping to geld horses; riding a roughshod pony hundreds of miles - are you kidding me!? That the author was compelled to share this history as a precedent to her own adventurous life (as told in The Glass Castle) is understandable. What limited my enjoyment of this work is the way in which it is told. I received the narrative as a straight recitation of Lily Casey's exploits, absent any nuance. In ...more
AMAZING!!! I "listened" to this unabridged audio, 9 hours, (as I drove 10 hours from my home in north Florida to visit my Mother in south Florida) read by the author and I have to say it was one of the most fantastic "reads" I have heard in a very long time. In fact, it has me ready to go back and re-read "Glass Castle" by the same author.
"Half Broke Horses" is a memoir" and Ms Walls is honest in calling it Fiction, since she was only able t...more
"Half Broke Horses" is a memoir" and Ms Walls is honest in calling it Fiction, since she was only able t...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lily Casey Smith | 10 | 84 | Jan 15, 2012 03:59pm | |
| 824 ELA Ms. Drago...: 1st book review | 1 | 13 | Sep 21, 2011 06:27pm |
Jeannette Walls is a writer and journalist. She was born in Phoenix, Arizona. She graduated with honors from Barnard College, the women's college affiliated with Columbia University. She published a bestselling memoir, The Glass Castle, in 2005. The book is being made into a film by Paramount.
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“Most important thing in life is learning how to fall.”
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“Nobody's perfect. We're all just one step up from the beasts and one step down from the angels.”
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