Half Broke Horses: A Book Review

I think this may be the first book review I’ve ever done here on The Chronicles of Nat, which is strange because I am an avid reader. I just finished reading, Half Broke Horses by Jeanette Walls and it was wonderful.


Ms. Walls wrote the book The Glass Castle in 2005 about her childhood, growing up in various towns and sometimes being homeless. She was the child of two rather flighty parents to say the least. The Glass Castle was an excellent book; riveting from page one. So, when I heard that Ms. Walls had written another book, this time about her grandmother, I knew I had to read it.

The book actually came out in the fall, but because I wasn’t in a reading mood, I didn’t get around to reading it until last week. It was every bit as excellent as I expected it to be and I found myself not wanting it to end. Lily Casey Smith is Ms. Walls’ grandmother and boy did she lead an interesting life. Ms. Wall’s says the book is a true-life novel and calls it a work of fiction because she writes in the first person and the stories were handed down to her from her mother and from what she can remember as a child; but it doesn’t make it any less interesting.

Mrs. Smith grew up on a ranch in Arizona; started teaching in one room schoolhouses at age 15, moved to Chicago at age 18, eventually earned her high school diploma and later in life earned her college degree. She also learned to fly an airplane, raced horses, played poker and sold bootleg liquor from under her baby’s basinet. This lady has spunk. Ms. Walls’ is a great storyteller and I would recommend either of these books to you if you have not read them before. They are both excellent and you will not want to put them down, which can be detrimental to your house cleaning. Check these out from your local library or splurge and buy them. You may even be able to find them for a cheap price at half.com; but if you are a reader, then these two books are a must.