Tolog Review: The Glass Castle

The Glass Castle
by Jeannette Walls
reviewed by Amy Altman

You should not be surprised that the author Jeannette Walls has remarkable details throughout the novel, The Glass Castle that is because it is a story about her childhood. At the age of three, Jeannette, one of four siblings, while standing above a hot stove and cooking herself some dinner catches her pink dress on fire. She is burned terribly and rushed to the hospital. After several days of being in the hospital, her dad, Rex Walls, picks up Jeannette and does the “skedaddle”, dashing out of the hospital with nurses running after them and leaving behind an unpaid bill. Most of the memories of the Wall children are filled with “skedaddles”, because the parents are unable to hold down jobs to support the family who have lived in multiple trailer parks, motels, and apartments. It is not unusual for the family to stay briefly at these places and abruptly leave, without warning or notice, in the middle of the night, especially when rent was due the following day or law enforcement was looking for them. Rex was a mean drunk who frequented bars and picked fights. No matter where they moved to, there would be an encounter between Rex and the police. The frequent uprooting of the family was the one constant the Wall children could count on to occur with regularity. Of course this made it difficult on the kids because they faced enrollment in multiple schools which meant no time to develop friendships and made them easy targets for bullying. While Rex is typically passed out, Mary Walls the mother, is of little help to her family which she neglects in her own way. Her obsession to become a famous artist is at the expense of her family. She was known to abandon the children and leave them to fend for themselves. The siblings endured such disturbing experiences that you would not of believed any of it were true, except for the fact this is not a fiction story but a memoir. The novel recounts sexual abuse by relatives towards the children which when brought to Mary’s attention is either ignored or discounted. Despite these horrible events the siblings never give up hope for a better life and create an escape fund. Unlike their parents, the siblings are able to work and earn some money which they save with dreams of going to New York City. Do the siblings end up fleeing their horrible home life or making it to New York City for a fresh start? You will need to read to find out.


There were times the details made me want to stop reading . I was so disgusted and disappointed with the parents who didn’t act like parents at all. They rarely protected, comforted, or provided for their children yet it wasn’t that simple. One of the most touching moments in the book occurred at Christmas. Of course the parents had no money for presents so the father gave each of them a unique gift. He took each child outside one at a time and gazed at the stars and let them choose their own star as their gift. To Jeanette it was her most memorable Christmas ever. I recommend this book if you are searching for a story about a complicated family situation which will make you laugh, cry, mad and inspired.