Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel

Pleasant surprise (2010-08-29) : 5/5
I purchased this book on my kindle purely by accident while reading the description. I'm glad I did. Entertaining story from beginning to end and I was sorry when it was finished. I still feel like there is more to this story. I recommend this book highly.
Mustang-breaking, poker-playing, horse-winning schoolmarm (2010-08-25) : 3/5
Jeannette Walls is a natural-born storyteller. In her memoir The Glass Castle, she described in fascinating detail what it meant to be the daughter of Rose Mary and Rex, perhaps two of the most dysfunctional individuals on the planet, brainy underachievers who raised their bevy of children in a most unconventional way.

By the end of that book, Jeannette was on her way to graduating from Barnard College and becoming a celebrated journalist in New York City. I exited the book wanting to know more and in ways, Half Broke Horses goes back to the well, helping readers understand the forces that shaped Rose Mary.

Half Broke Horses precedes The Glass Castle by channeling the voice of Jeannette's gritty West Texan grandmother, Lily Casey Smith. A rebellious and headstrong little girl, she is in charge of breaking in her father's horses at age six and by age 12, she is running the ranch and helping to geld the horses. By the time she is a mid-teen, she takes off to the Arizona frontier atop one of the horses - Patches - to teach children not much younger than she is. All the while, she adheres to her mantra, "You had to be willing to work hard and persevere in the face of misfortune. A lot of people, even those born with brains and beauty, didn't have what it took to knuckle down and get the thing done."

Knuckle down she does. Within the course of this true-life novel, Lily Casey Smith takes on many roles: she is a totally unorthodox teacher who gets fired from position after position, she marries and dumps a crumb-bum polygamist, she learns to fly an airplane, sells bootleg liquor from her back door, runs a 100,000-acre ranch with her second husband, the indomitable lapsed Mormon Cowboy, Jim Smith, survives tornadoes, floods, and the Great Depression, and gives birth to two incorrigible children, Jeannette's mother Rose Mary and Little Jim.

And herein lies the main problem with Half Broke Horses. The book has a campfire feel; it's almost as if the reader is sitting at the author's feet as she narrates one amazing adventure after another, upping the ante each time. But nowhere does the reader get the sense of the inner life of Lily Casey Smith, a rebel-before-her-time, a tough American original in the old frontier. After the birth of Rosemary and Jim, the prose becomes less imaginative, without the sparkle of The Glass Castle. Lily Casey Smith becomes bigger than life, a woman to be admired but not really known, whose life may or may not be filled with half-truths. The emotional distance the author takes from the narrative tends to distance us from ever really knowing Lily Casey Smith and Jim Smith.

It's a hard task that Jeannette Walls took on herself - writing about her legendary grandmother. And I'm sure this was a task she took on with love and imagination. It was a New York Times Top 10 Best Book in 2009 and certainly has - and will continue - to have appeal for many readers.


If you liked Glass Castle you will LOVE Half Broke Horses (2010-08-15) : 5/5
First I read Glass Castles. I loved it and thought it was so interesting. I had to find out how a successful author could have a mother who was homeless and dumpster diving. Then my daughter, who had recommended Glass Castles, recommended Half Broke Horses. I thought it would be disappointing since, despite it being a prequel, it was a second attempt to keep up the storyline. But I think I actually enjoyed it even more. I do not usually read fiction, but this is historical fiction based on true family stories. And it is read by the author herself. Whether you get the print or audio version, I don't think you will be disappointed.
Would love to read it--but not at $12.99 for Kindle version (2010-08-14) : 1/5
I have been really looking forward to reading this book, having enjoyed her first so much, but was shocked to see the Kindle price at $12.99---higher than hardback price!! Forget it.
Start Reading it on a Friday Afternoon (2010-08-09) : 5/5
This captivating read will rob you of your routine. Don't start it on a Monday afternoon. Start it on a Friday afternoon. That way you can avoid any mishaps and have all the concentrated time you need.

It was compared to a rough version of the Little House books, and I think it's an apt comparison. Walls calls this a True Life Fiction, which I never heard of until now, but I get the feeling that Glass Castle has a similar format. Still, I enjoyed the dialogue and adventure. I wanted to translate this in Navajo to my mom because Lily captures glimmers that my mom would identify with. It's not your regular flower picking, bread baking, hand holding feel good story. Half Broke Horse bucks the pretty and forced and tames the wild of life.

The honest voiced read captivates so much that I was sad to come to the end.

Now Walls has to write about her Dreamer-Liar-Scoundrel dad.