Overall Rating
5
out of 5
Written By:
nynoyes
(
Boston suburb
)
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An Unforgettable Heroine
Date: 17 May 2010
This review is for the
Print
format.
"The opening scenes of Half-Broke Horses give the reader a taste of the principal character, ten year-old Lily Casey, as she uses her quick wit to save herself and her two younger siblings from drowning in a flash flood by climbing a cottonwood tree until the water receded. She had to keep them awake during the long night despite their hunger and discomfort, but she showed the determination displayed throughout her life to move forward and not let obstacles stand in her way.
At a young age, Lily selected the most attractive career path for a woman in the first part of the twentieth century. Being a nurse or a secretary did not appeal to her independent spirit, but teaching did. Over the course of many years she struggled to get the education and experience that she needed to obtain a teaching diploma. She believed it was important to empower young girls with the understanding that they could make independent choices and decisions in life. That cost her one job.
Lily was definitely not a typical “lady”. When she was ten years old, she was helping her father break horses. As much as she liked horses, she developed a greater fondness for the automobile and even dabbled in learning to fly airplanes. When times got tough she augmented the family income by selling bootleg liquor.
Jeannette Walls decided to write in the first person which was a perfect way of letting the reader into Lily’s mind. In her author’s notes at the end of the novel, Walls admits that her grandmother was somewhat of a character and the author has done a fine job of making us understand that. I can think of no better example than Lily’s pride in her new dentures, her “choppers”, which she liked to take out to show to whomever she was talking to.
After finishing this book, top on my list of “next reads” is Walls’ memoir, The Glass Castle"
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