Book Club Report

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

The Glass Castle is a 2005 memoir by American author Jeannette Walls.

She recounts her dysfunctional and nomadic yet vibrant upbringing, emphasizing her resilience and her father’s attempts towards redemption.    Despite her family’s flaws, their love for each other, her unique perspective on life allowed her to create a successful life of her own, culminating in a career in journalism in New York City.

The book’s title refers to her father’s ultimate unfulfilled promise, to build his dream home for the family, a glass castle.

The story covers young Jeannette Walls living with her parents, Rex and Rose Mary, and her siblings Lori, Brian and Maureen in the “desert”.   Her first memory, which takes place when she is three years old and is living in a trailer park in southern Arizona.    She is engulfed in flames when attempting to make hot dogs over the stove, resulting in her going to the hospital and receiving skin grafts on her stomach, ribs and chest.   Due to fear of the mounting medical bills as well as skepticism of modern medicine, Rex takes Jeannette out of the hospital without permission or paying.    A few months later, the children are woken up in the middle of the night and are told they are “doing the skedaddle” leaving town.

Their parent’s nomadic lifestyle imposed by their avoidance of financial responsibilities results in the family frequently moving about to locations in various states including Nevada, Arizona and California.     As Jeannette grows older, she is more aware of Rex’s alcoholism and its consequences.   For her 10^th birthday, she asks him to stop drinking, which he successfully does for a few months.   Following his relapse, Rose Mary decides that since they have no money it is time to move again, and she takes the family to their paternal grandparents in Welch, West Virginia.    This move proves dire, especially for the children as both grandparents have alcoholic tendencies.     The fillings for their school box sandwiches, is lard.

Living in Welch covers approximately a 7-year period and documents Jeannette and her siblings’ shifting perspectives on life with their parents from being one of adventure and whimsy to abuse and brokenness.   Whilst living in Welch, the Walls children face bullying, sexual abuse and hunger.   Ultimately, Lori and Jeannette hatch a plan for Lori to move to New York City, Jeannette following shortly thereafter.   Eventually, Lori moves and Jeannette joins her shortly before finishing high school. 

In New York City after experiencing the freedom and safety gained from no longer living with her parents, sister Lori offers to help siblings Brian and Maureen move to New York City.   Three years after all the children have left Welch, Rose Mary and Rex decide to move to New York City themselves.  With little money, the parents fall behind on rent and become homeless.   They find themselves at home amongst squatters in an abandoned apartment.  Years later still living on the streets, Rex calls Jeannette and tells her that he is dying.   A few weeks after they had met and talked about their adventures and struggles, he dies of a heart attack.   Rose Mary decides to continue living the squatter’s life but in quite a reasonable block of apartments.  Over the years the children had tried to help their parents but all their offers were refused.

Jeannette marries quite a wealthy young man but this marriage does not last.    Later she meets John and this becomes a very happy and stable relationship – they marry and buy a homestead a few miles outside of the City.   Five years after the death of Rex the remaining family gathers for Thanksgiving at Jeannette’s home where they toast Rex.