Rate this book

Half Broke Horses (2009)

by Jeannette Walls(Favorite Author)

4.02 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

1416586288 (ISBN13: 9781416586289)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Scribner

review 1: Back in the day, out on the plains or even in cities, life was tough. Just making the simple things work, food on the table, clothing, transportation, all of it and then the Great Depression. Lily Casey Smith, grandmother to the author, Jeannette Walls, is also tough, tougher than most people can even imagine, and this is to live a life she thought best for her. She grew up with a father who was kicked in the head by a horse resulting in speech and limb disabilities, and a mother who should have stayed back East with her well-to-do family. Instead they live the ranch life when all hands on deck are needed just to survive and Lily knows how to survive. I love this story because it told of a time and place where people had to pull up their bootstraps and focus on what to do ... morewith what hand was dealt to them. Lily is a strict parent and a school teacher, way back when taking the strap to a kid was acceptable. She didn't feel sorry for herself, or not for long, and expected that from her children. This could be deemed as a biography about the author, Jeannette Walls, grandmother but it isn't exactly because it's hearsay. Lily has been long dead and what Ms. Walls knows of her grandmother, outside of her first eight years knowing her, is what her mother told her. Although Walls did research to get some historical fact, if you've ever researched historical fact about just plain not famous, well-known people or events further back then the 1930's or so, it's hard to get a straight account. Because of all of that Ms. Walls has declared this a novel.And I loved her story.
review 2: The author describes 'Half Broke Horses' as a true life novel. She tells the story of her maternal grandmother, who is a larger-than-life character. Some of the stories included are nearly too far out to be believed...but are true!At first, I wanted this Lily gal , the poker player, boot-legger, hard-nosed rural school teacher, Catholic boarding school product, airplane pilot,cattle-driving horse woman, and survivor to be a relative of mine. Then, I realized she probably would scare the bejezzus out of me.....chew my low-performing self up and spit me out like the tobacco she despised.This story is a sort of prequel to the author's 'Glass Castle' and explains a great deal about the parenting skills we are so horrified about in that autobiography. less

Download links for: Half Broke Horses

Advertising